Labor’s environment reforms will take time to deliver, Plibersek says

Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek says she is yet to set a timeframe for delivering the policy agenda Labor took to the federal election as she warns Australia’s threatened species and habitats are under extreme pressure.

Just days before the May 21 poll, Labor promised to create an independent national environmental protection agency and confirmed plans to overhaul environmental protection laws.

Federal Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek: “Our environment’s getting worse.” Credit: Louie Douvis.

“I’m going to take my time and do proper consultation to make sure we’re talking to stakeholders and bringing them with us. I don’t want to start putting timeframes on it just yet,” Plibersek said in an interview.

However, she committed to swiftly releasing the State of the Environment report, a five-yearly independent assessment of Australia’s natural assets, which has been shelved since the former government received it in December.

“What it tells us is that our environment’s getting worse, it’s under extreme pressure, we’ve got real problems with threatened species and habitat loss,” Plibersek said.

Labor pledged to shake up the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act after a review by former competition tsar Graeme Samuel last year found urgent reform was needed to halt the decline of iconic sites and the extinction of threatened plants, animals and ecosystems.

Since colonisation, about 100 of Australia’s unique flora and fauna species have been wiped out. The rate of loss has not slowed over the past 200 years.

Plibersek said more stringent environmental regulations could be imposed without restricting business growth.

“We know that the sort of environment versus jobs dichotomy is absolutely wrong. We can have a strong growing healthy economy, we can continue development, and we can better protect our natural environment.”

Plibersek will be the last line of approval for any major new fossil fuel projects in the next three years. These could include the Beetaloo Basin gas field in the Northern Territory, gas import terminals on the east coast, and offshore oil and gas projects.

When in opposition, Labor promised to support any new coal or gas project as long as its environmental and economic credentials stacked up.

Federal Energy Minister Madeleine King and energy experts have said new gas projects in particular will need to be developed in the near term to supply enough gas to bridge the energy transition to renewables, an argument hotly contested by green advocates.

Plibersek said on Monday any assessment that came across her desk for final environmental approval would be judged on a case-by-case basis.

“I’m going to make a decision on any project that comes before me based on the information and the science that I have before me at the time, so I’m not going to start speculating about individual projects,” she said.

“I’m not going to start making blanket statements about fossil fuels more generally, it’s not a responsible way for any minister to behave.”

Climate change is a major factor in environmental decline globally and Plibersek said her government was united in pushing for action to help address it.

“I don’t think I need to push for emissions reduction because we’ve got a prime minister and an energy and climate minister that are absolutely committed to it,” she said.

“One of our first acts is taking legislation to the parliament to legislate 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030, on our way to net zero by 2050.

“I don’t need to push them to act. What I want I can do though, is really support some of the efforts to help implement the emissions reduction that we need to do as a nation.”

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