House debates
Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Questions without Notice
Climate Change
2:37 pm
Stephen Bates (Brisbane, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
My question is to the Minister for Resources. Right now, our country is burning, and fires fuelled by coal and gas are threatening lives and communities. As the climate crisis gets worse, why is Labor trying to fast track massive new gas projects with a bill that overrides environment laws? And why is one of Labor's first acts since the Voice referendum a bill that weakens First Nations power to oppose massive new climate bombs on their land and sea country?
2:38 pm
Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Thank you to the member for the question. Contrary to what you have just said, which is not true, the bill does not give me any—
Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Sorry; pardon me. What the member has said is not true. The bill before the House does not provide me powers to override any approvals whatsoever. It includes a technical amendment allowing the government to adopt future recommendations of an offshore environmental management review, which should come as no surprise to anyone in this House, including the Greens political party, or in other place. If a government undertakes a review, that government might seek to implement some recommendations of that review. No surprises there! This bill enables us to work and implement recommendations of the review—a review which is being undertaken as we speak. It might come as a surprise to the member to know that the Greens did put forward a bill to try and do something similar but not the same, but they're not any party of government, and they would have to make exactly the same changes to the existing offshore regulations to implement what they want to implement. In that respect, you'd be in the same boat as the government is, or any future government would be, to make any such changes to those regulations. So it might be worth having a bit of a look at that and getting some more knowledge in your own mind for your own sense of understanding of what the offshore regulations indeed are.
Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Before I call anyone, I'm going to do an acknowledgement that I've been requested to do by the member for Gippsland. Joining us in the gallery today are members of the Gippsland Youth Space program, who are in Canberra today meeting with government and opposition members as part of a bushfire recovery program. A warm welcome to you all.
Honourable members: Hear, hear!