Senate debates

Monday, 5 September 2022

Motions

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Climate Trigger) Bill 2022

1:34 pm

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

Today I will be tabling a private member's bill that creates a climate trigger in our environment laws. This is essential if we are to ensure that any project being assessed by the environment minister does indeed look at the climate damage that it causes.

How can it be that in 2022 we can have environmental approval being granted to a big new coal mine expansion or a gas field or any other big project without any consideration of the climate damage that that project might cause, including to our environment? We know that Australia's environment is in crisis. We are facing species collapse. Yet time and time again projects are being given the green light by the nation's environment minister without any consideration of the climate damage that is being done to our environment.

In 2005, when he held the environment portfolio for the Labor Party, Mr Anthony Albanese introduced laws that did exactly this. Back in 2005 Mr Albanese said that there was a gap in our environment laws that needed to be closed. There is still a gap in our environment laws and it does need to be closed.

We need to get serious about reducing pollution in this country, about halting dangerous global warming and about protecting our environment. A climate trigger is one of the most important things to be done to make sure we put a halt to climate destruction and environmental collapse and to put our country on a better path that looks after nature and doesn't destroy it. (Time expired)