Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Soon this parliament will have an opportunity to consider one of the most important environmental reforms in a generation, legislation to establish Environmental Information Australia and a federal EPA. The choices this parliament makes will decide not just what kind of country our children inherit but what kind of parliament we choose to be.

Australians, and particularly those in Bennelong, care deeply about our natural environment. They expect us to get this reform right. They're paying close attention not only to the laws we will bring before this parliament and the detail within it but also to how we will debate this legislation over the next two to three weeks. This is the third attempt to change these laws after a number of really significant and detailed reviews, and these laws have failed before. People in Bennelong have written to me and have made it very clear that they want this parliament to get reforms through. They don't want them to fail again.

I've spoken about environmental action and climate action before in this place on behalf of Bennelong. It is something the people of Bennelong really care about. Themes of progress, leadership and environmental protection are always at the top of discussions I have in my community. At the Lane Cove Sustainability Festival a few weeks ago, people were actively raising this issue with me. At the Granny Smith Festival, where we celebrate the Granny Smith apple—which was created in Eastwood, in Bennelong—people were talking to me about this legislation. They know about it; they care about it.

On top of an open letter, I received over 100 signatures from Bennelong residents earlier this year who want to see the games end. They don't want this legislation to fail. They want the Senate and the House to work together to get these reforms through. We know that the current laws are simply broken. You don't need to listen to politicians to tell you that these laws are broken; listen to the reviewer, the very eminent Graeme Samuel. He just gave an extraordinary interview a few days ago where he said he was becoming 'frustrated' and 'angry' at the political posturing. For someone like Graeme Samuel, that's a pretty extraordinary thing to say publicly—that he's angry at the political posturing that exists on this at the moment. We need to come together.

Minister Watt has done an extraordinary job in a very short amount of time, not only to get this back on the agenda but to have legislation in place to bring to this parliament before the end of the year. I urge all here in this place, on behalf of Bennelong, to do what's needed to get it through the parliament.