Greens launch scathing attack on government amid top-secret report’s release

The state government has been strong-armed into releasing the top-secret review that underpinned the overhaul of the state’s environmental protection laws, with revelations the report relied on the views of proponents, ran to 43 pages and was turned around within days.

For 13 months, the state had refused to release the snap review it commissioned in October 2023 amid a legislative overhaul aimed at fast-tracking environmental approvals.

Greens MLA Brad Pettitt, WA Premier Roger Cook.

The Cook government came under fire when it revealed the review’s 39 recommendations two months later, with environmentalists branding them “pro-industry” and accusing its authors of failing to consult them or the broader community.

Those recommendations included removing the community’s capacity to launch an appeal against the EPA’s decision not to assess a project and tasking it with prioritising job-creating projects.

It also prompted the state government to handball responsibility for the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions to its federal counterparts.

But the veil of secrecy has now been lifted after the state’s peak conservation body won its battle for the documents after taking the matter to the Information Commissioner with the help of the Environmental Defenders Office.

On Thursday, the Conservation Council of WA said the document — released under Freedom of Information laws — reaffirmed previously aired concerns about the lack of consultation and claimed it was filled with the views of disgruntled proponents.

CCWA campaigns director Mia Pepper also expressed concerns about the fact the report did not document which stakeholders were consulted.

The rapid review, penned by former EPA chair Paul Vogel and planning expert David McFerran and seen by this masthead, was submitted on November 3, 2023 — just over a week after the state announced the review.

The 43-page “non-legal” review pored over data gathered on existing environmental review processes over the past two decades, interviews with industry proponents it claimed should be viewed as “customers” and feedback from environmental consultants and other government agencies.

The review does not contain references.

The report was penned on the assumption the now-shelved federal Nature Positive legislation, which premier Roger Cook lobbied against over fears about the impact on the state’s mining industry, would be endorsed.

WA Greens MLC Brad Pettitt was scathing in his assessment of the review, claiming it “plagiarised the interests of big business” and underpinned what he dubbed the worst attack on the state’s environmental protection agency.

He also attacked the government over its attempts to keep the review from the public.

“Now that we’ve finally seen the review, it is outrageous that the Cook Labor government gutted our EPA without any real data or information,” he said.

“The Cook Labor government’s interference on nature-positive legislation at both a state and federal level, and at the behest of corporate interests, is an affront to democracy.”

EDO WA managing lawyer Jess Border said the government’s decision not to release the report for more than a year was “deeply troubling” and undermined public confidence in government policymaking.

“The biggest changes to WA’s environmental laws in a generation have been based on what appears to be a week-long, non-legal review that lacked any engagement with environmental groups,” Border said.

Vogel has previously rejected claims that environmental groups were not consulted, maintaining he had emailed the Conservation Council of WA but did not receive a response.

The review’s release comes six months after Labor MP Chris Tallentire broke ranks over the environmental reforms, using the cover of parliamentary privilege to compare its recommendations to “a wishlist” for industry and claim the report contained “very serious” inconsistencies.

But industry groups had welcomed the reforms, claiming they were necessary to stem timeline blowouts, remove duplication and prevent companies from looking to invest elsewhere.

Environment Minister Reece Whitby has repeatedly defended the government’s reforms, maintaining they did not weaken the standard of environmental protection and standing by Vogel and McFerran’s consultation process.

The premier’s office has been contacted for comment.

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