Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I'm not really in a position to give that commitment today, Senator Pocock. We are committed to both preparing the standards as quickly as we can, noting that no minister has the power to create standards until these laws are passed, but, nevertheless, that's why we got started on drafting a number of those standards, because we do want to create them as quickly as possible. Again, as I said this morning, they will be disallowable instruments, so there'll be an opportunity for the Senate to consider those as well. At the same time, we are committed to proceeding as quickly as we can, with, for example, entering bilateral agreements with states and territories around the assessment and approval of projects, and also regarding the accreditation of a number of state and territory processes.

We want to get moving. I know there have been some people in the community who—and I think you, Senator Pocock, yourself—have said that we shouldn't be rushing this and that we should take this into the new year. We've got to get moving! Poor Professor Samuel—he handed down his report five years ago. We don't want to take another five years, because, in another five years, there will be another review of the act. So we've got to get moving, and that's why we want to get moving as quickly as we can with as many aspects of these reforms as possible.