Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, in relation to the amendments that have been circulated by the Greens in relation to removing the land-clearing exemption, could I ask you to commit to the chamber today that land clearing will indeed be a priority for the newly established environment protection authority. Obviously, we know that land clearing is rampant across the country. In fact, an area the size of the MCG is cleared every two minutes in Australia. That is an extraordinary amount of Australian bushland that is devastated, bulldozed and destroyed simply in the name of development—and often multinational profit. I would like a commitment from the government that this cracking down on land clearing, this tightening of the rules and our ensuring that we protect more of our bushland and forests will be a priority for the Environment Protection Authority.