Plibersek accuses Greens of wooing unions at expense of environment

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is accusing the Greens of spending their time defending disgraced union leaders at the expense of working to pass environment reforms, threatening the minor party it will wear the blame if the government fails to pass its laws.

The Albanese government has drafted laws to deliver on a key election pledge to create a stand-alone federal Environment Protection Agency with new powers to make development decisions and enforce compliance. But the legislation is stalled in the Senate with the Coalition and Greens withholding their support.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s proposed Environment Protection Agency is the second part of her three-stage reform agenda. Credit: Rhett Wyman

Plibersek has been trying to negotiate with the opposition with little progress and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this week revived the prospect of watering down the promised agency’s powers.

The Greens are demanding Plibersek end logging in native forests and include a climate trigger law to block approvals for fossil fuel projects if she wants their support for the bill.

Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young on Monday slammed the government for threatening to deal with the opposition if the minor party did not back its draft laws.

“Labor caving in on environment laws would be the final nail in the coffin for Labor’s environmental credibility before the next election,” Hanson-Young said.

But the government has no plan to introduce a climate trigger and Plibersek on Monday prodded a sore point for the Greens, citing its role in blocking the Rudd government’s climate policy in 2009 on the grounds it was inadequate.

“If the Greens party doesn’t support the government’s EPA laws, this could be their Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme mistake mark two,” Plibersek said.

She pointed to Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather’s decision to address a Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union rally last week in Brisbane, where he accused Labor of attacking “every worker in this country” by forcing the union into administration.

“[The Greens] are more interested in defending [former union boss] John Setka than defending the environment,” Plibersek said.

Plibersek’s proposed Environment Protection Agency is the second part of her three-stage reform agenda. The first was the creation of Environment Information Australia to provide data for decision makers, while the third is legally binding national standards that rule out damage to critical habitats.

With time running out to deliver her reforms before the next election, due by May, Plibersek is ramping up pressure on the Greens over their environmental credentials.

“I think Green voters would be disappointed if the Greens party delayed a tough new environment watchdog like the EPA, or if they tried to stop fines for serious environmental crimes going up from around $15 million to $780 million,” she said.

Albanese told The West Australian newspaper on Monday he was considering removing development assessments from the agency’s powers, restricting it to assessing compliance, in a move to woo the opposition.

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