Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The plunder and pillage of the environment is being brought to you courtesy of big mining and the Labor Party, who they have bought up with their donations. The fossil fuelled Labor Party is now responsible for fossil fuel disaster after fossil fuel disaster—as the climate crisis worsens, as extreme heat worsens, as floods worsen, as fires worsen, as people are being crushed under the cascading impacts of the climate, cost-of-living and housing crises.

The Minister for the Environment and Water talks the talk of 'now or never' on environmental protection but then walks the walk of environmental destruction. That is what these reforms unleash: a path to fast-track the destruction of nature, a path to fast-track coal and gas. They are protecting a system that created the climate crisis. They are protecting the profits of billionaires and corporations. What needs protection is our ever-dwindling biodiversity and wildlife-rich native forests. What needs protection are communities on the front lines of climate driven disasters, who suffer again and again and again, both here and in the Global South. National interest should be about protecting people and the planet—not greed, not corporate profit, not flogging off our precious mineral resources for the war machine.

That Labor is open to doing business with the coalition on the environment should tell you all you need to know. The Nationals have shown their true colours by dumping net zero. The least Labor could do is rule out doing any deals with the climate deniers and the environmental vandals on the EPBC reforms. But I'm not holding my breath, because Labor's environmental playbook runs something like this: draft laws at the behest of big business and the mining lobby; give permission to some backbenchers to express concern; pitch yourself as the sensible Centre while fast-tracking logging, land clearing and the destruction of First Nations land and country, polluting the atmosphere and somehow trying to blame the Greens. We see through this; the community sees through this. The emperor with no clothes has nowhere to hide.

The Greens are not here to play your petty political games; we are here to stand up for nature. We are here to stand up for our communities. We are here to work with First Nations people and those on the front lines of the climate crisis. We will not be scared by your rubbish tactics. We will not back down in standing up to protect our environment and our climate.