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

Australian governments have become far too comfortable with sacrificing irreplaceable parts of our country. Time and time again, they sacrifice Australia's environment for the interests and for the profits of big corporations—even when it puts our people and our precious places at risk, even when there is clear community opposition and even when critically endangered species are threatened and environmental laws are broken. In WA, we are seeing this play out across our state.

Our state's EPA recently approved a large-scale development at Smiths Beach, which experts and the local community have protested against for decades. Habitats for critically endangered possums and cockatoos will be cleared if this proposal goes ahead. The development will substantially increase the threat of bushfires, which will put people's lives at risk. It is no wonder that so many people are now asking, 'Who here is acting in our community's interest, because it certainly isn't the WA government?'

Closer to Perth, we are seeing the federal government's failures in action. WA is home to the world's only jarrah forest. My WA community is outraged that Alcoa are illegally clearing these jarrah forests, year after year, and are failing to uphold their environmental obligations. Yet this outrage is nothing compared to the fury that we feel when we hear that the federal Minister for the Environment and Water has handed a fine to Alcoa that equals about 0.3 per cent of Alcoa's annual revenue. This is little more than a financial slap on the wrist. Instead of being gripped by the scruff of the neck and thrown bodily from our state, this US mining corporation has been given the green light to continue operations under the national interest exemption.

Let us be clear. This is President Trump's mineral deal overriding environmental protections. How is stripping native forests and threatening the safety of our drinking water in the national interest? Despite widespread calls from our community to revoke Alcoa's licence, the government has essentially allowed Alcoa to pay for permission to continue clearing the only jarrah forest in the world, and now we know explicitly that these forests cannot be restored. Jarrah trees need the very bauxite that Alcoa is taking out of the ground in order to live. After 60 years, none of Alcoa's attempts to rehabilitate these forests have been successful.

To the Australians who have begged this government to protect our black cockatoos, to stop deforestation, to value our remaining natural spaces, I want to thank you tonight for having the courage to see this issue as it is. I want to thank the Perth community who have protested persistently and taken this to the steps of the WA parliament, and those continuing to speak out. The community's opposition is clear, so clear that they have monumentally shattered previous records, with 59,000 public submissions made to the WA EPA. I want to personally thank WA Greens MP Jess Beckerling—and her team—in her role as the environment spokesperson for the Greens WA during this fight, and my colleague Senator Hanson-Young for their work uncovering the depth of Alcoa's unlawful activity and dishonesty.

The intentions of this government remain clear through its actions—continued approval of coalmines, continued expansion of gas developments, continued clearing of native forests and greater risks to our water resources. Only the Greens will put our environment and our local communities ahead of the interests of big corporations and their profits.