Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Today, I am proud that our parliament is passing long-awaited reforms to environmental laws here in Australia—laws that signal improvement, are better than the ones put forward by this government alone and will provide some relief to many climate campaigners across this country. I am massively grateful to my Greens colleagues in the Senate, who have shown incredible determination in their negotiations to get these concessions from the government. However, these laws still fail to address some of the greatest threats to our environment: climate-polluting corporations and the billionaires who are fuelling our changing climate.

For this vote today, I am reflecting on my recent trip to Karratha in WA's Pilbara region, a place of rich Australian history and ground zero for Woodside's Burrup Hub. Guided by elders and custodians, I got to experience our World Heritage listed Murujuga and its ancient rock art. I also saw firsthand the catastrophic impact of industry, devastating First Nations land and eroding the Murujuga rock art. I saw the uninterrupted flame of gas from the Burrup Hub, an open source pouring millions of tons of emissions into the world each year.

Following Labor's approval of the North West Shelf expansion, it is estimated that emissions from WA gas exports will reach 15 billion tonnes over their lifetime. This is what happens when we have environmental laws that don't actually protect our environment and do not consider the climate crisis. Above the safety, health and wellbeing of Australians, this government chooses the private industries who gain profit from our land and resources—the private industries who do not pay their fair share of tax, who do not support Australian communities and who do not protect our natural world. It is disappointing that this government refused to negotiate on having environmental laws that would stop new fossil fuel projects in their tracks and protect nature for years to come.

These laws presented an opportunity for strong leadership and for genuine reform for Australia's environment. I am really proud that the Greens secured significant improvements that have ensured this bill is better than our current nature laws. We have stopped the fast-track approval process for coal and gas projects so that they cannot be rushed through in 30 days. We have secured new protections for our native forests by ensuring that native forest logging projects will be assessed under the new environmental standards. We have closed land-clearing loopholes, protecting Australia's threatened wildlife and natural treasures like our Great Barrier Reef. We have saved the water trigger, which will continue to be a key tool for people fighting against fracking projects in the Kimberley.

We have a lot more work to do. We have a lot more work to do to protect the northern jarrah forests. We have a lot more work to do to save Scott Reef. We have a lot more work to do to protect our precious Kimberley from the frackers. I look forward to continuing to work every day to protect nature, to protect our forests and to ensure a safer climate future.