Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Clearly the bill is restricted to considering the water impacts of coal and coal seam gas. We have had an extensive discussion about the fact that there are other impacts—on climate, on food production, on the reef and on the general operation of rural communities. Given that the way any trigger works under the EPBC Act is left to the definition of 'significant impact', can the minister explain how the definition of significance will be developed in the administrative guidelines and what sorts of parameters are being considered by the minister to guide its application? This goes to the very application of the bill itself—not just the content but also the process of consultation for the formulation of those guidelines.