‘I think they got the message’: Cook backs in watered-down environment laws after PM’s visit

WA Premier Roger Cook has welcomed news the federal government is willing to scale back stalled environment reforms which have drawn the ire of the state’s miners, saying he believed they could feel WA coming “en-masse”.

On Thursday, Cook told a Perth business breakfast he was pleased to hear Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had told local media he was open to a compromise with the coalition that would strip the new federal Environmental Protection Agency of decision-making powers.

WA Premier Roger Cook told a breakfast hosted by CCIWA he believed the federal government could feel WA coming “en-masse” over the reforms.Credit: Jesinta Burton.

Under that proposal, which would be a deviation from the election pledge, the body would solely focus on enforcing compliance — a move which has already been condemned by the Greens.

Of the federal government policies affecting businesses in WA, Cook said the consequences of the draft laws designed to bolster environmental protection remained the most significant issue.

After the federal cabinet’s four-day visit to Perth earlier this week, Cook said he believed the federal government was listening and now better understood the laws could not present a “hinderance” to WA industry.

“I sat opposite [Environment Minister] Tanya Plibersek some months ago, who had [CCIWA chief executive] Chris Rodwell on one side and [The Chamber of Minerals and Energy chief executive] Rebecca Tomkinson on the other: I think they got the message,” he said.

“They could feel WA coming en-masse.

“I should say, we want national environmental protection laws because we understand strong ESG values underpin our international investment pathway.

“But the only way these laws are going to get through is either through a deal with the Greens or a deal with the opposition, so the laws have to be sensible to everyone.”

The comments come just 24 hours after Plibersek lashed the Greens and implied all sides of politics were going to have to compromise to some extent as the government battles to get the laws through before the election.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA had been lobbying against the laws over fears they would duplicate approvals, delay and blow out costs on major projects and deter investment.

Pilbersek had pledged to overhaul environment laws by establishing the stand-alone EPA, adopting a framework to stop damage to critical habitats and strengthening the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act.

But conservation groups and the Greens have condemned the government on its failure to deliver the reforms in the form initially promised.

The premier vowed to continue funding the Environmental Defenders Office and denied claims by CCIWA’s chief economist Aaron Morey that it was beyond repair, despite concerns it had been affected by ideology.

And he played down concerns from the likes of BHP that the federal government’s industrial relations reform will allow a reunionisation of the Pilbara, which Resources Minister Madeleine King last week labelled “hysteria”.

The new laws were used to strongarm BHP into negotiating a new agreement for workers in the Pilbara for the first time in a decade.

As the most isolated economy in the nation, Cook said he believed unions understood WA’s economy drove the nation and respected that they would have to work together to continue to help it thrive.

Cook said BHP had not reached out to him directly with its concerns.

BHP Australia president Geraldine Slattery said the company continued to advocate for policy settings that would drive the country’s competitiveness and enable the resources sector to thrive.

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