‘Decide who you stand for’ on climate, Coalition tells Labor

WA Labor Premier Roger Cook has declared that his mining state does not support a climate trigger being included in the Prime Minister’s environmental overhaul.

Anthony Albanese. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

WA Labor Premier Roger Cook has declared that his mining state, which will be crucial for both Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton at the next election, does not support a climate trigger being included in the Prime Minister’s environmental overhaul, after Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek put one on the table in a possible deal with the Greens.

The Coalition urged Labor to decide “who it stands for” – workers in the resources sector or inner-city Greens voters – as Ms Plibersek defended her openness to working with the minor party to get the nat­ure positive reforms through parliament, declaring “this is democracy”.

Senior government sources told The Australian that Labor was much more likely to do a deal on its environment protection agency with the Coalition than the Greens, but it was some way off landing an agreement with either of them on Thursday.

The government pulled its nat­ure positive bills from the Senate notice paper for debate, amid warnings from big business that Mr Albanese’s economic credentials would be trashed if he did a deal with the Greens.

With Labor hoping for a deal or at least some movement on the legislation next week, when only the Senate is sitting, opposition environment spokesman Jonno Dun­iam said a climate trigger or similar – as demanded by the Greens – should have “everyone very, very worried”.

“The government needs to figure out who it stands for. Is it the hundreds of thousands of workers in the resources sector, or is it the Green voters in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne?” Senator Duniam told The Australian.

“We have been negotiating with a government talking out both sides of its mouth: we have a Prime Minister that announced he would significantly water down Labor’s extreme EPA at our request, and then we have a minister who is now saying they’re considering a job-­destroying and economic-­crunching climate trigger.”

Mr Cook rejected a climate trigger in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, which the government wants to reform as part of the final stage of its nature positive plan, saying the safeguard mechanism was the appropriate measure to regulate emissions. “We all want a commonsense approach on these reforms,” he said. “WA does not support a ‘climate trigger’ in the EPBC Act.

“The Liberal Party has a responsibility to work constructively with the federal government to put in place sensible legislation that benefits our economy and our environment.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns, also a Labor leader, said the state would remain a friend and supporter of the minerals industry when asked how damaging such a trigger could be to local businesses. “When it comes to mineral or resource projects in the state, we need it,” he said. “We want (that) capital investment … critical minerals and gold projects are hugely important to NSW.”

Like Senator Duniam, Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young called on the government to choose who it sides with.

“Do they want to protect nat­ure and save the koalas, protect the climate? Or do they want to roll over and be a patsy for Gina Rinehart and the mining lobby?” she said.

“The mining industry don’t have seats in the Senate. The mining industry are not democratically elected. The mining industry have been in here lobbying and heavying, and the Prime Minister needs to stand up to them. The only place you’re going to see koalas is in a zoo unless we fix these laws.”

Both the Coalition and the Greens hold serious concerns about the green cop, to be called Environment Protection Australia, being legislated before any overhaul of the EPBC Act, which the EPA would administer.

“You’re effectively signing a cheque to give someone new powers to administer new environmental laws … yet to be determined,” Coalition sources said. The opposition wants to the government to preview what reforms to the EPBC Act would look like.

As well as ensuring EPA’s independence, the Greens and Senate crossbenchers David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe want the EPBC Act to assess land clearing to try to stop native forest logging, climate considerations included in environmental assessments and decision-making, and a greater inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in environmental governance and decision-making.

Ms Plibersek said she was prepared to look at “sensible” amendments to get the bills passed and dismissed suggestions the Greens had been unreasonable in past negotiations. “This is democracy. The Australian people have elected a Senate where we have to have the agreement of either the Coalition parties or the Greens and the crossbench,” she told Sky News. “I’d rather my laws go through as they are. They’re a good set of laws.”

Additional reporting: Alexi Demetriadi