Ley accuses Labor of ‘political fix’ with environmental reforms
Sussan Ley has accused Anthony Albanese’s environment tsar of putting deal-making above good policy.
Environment Minister Murray Watt was more focused on getting a “deal done” on sweeping environmental reforms this week than he was on making good policy, Sussan Ley has claimed.
The Albanese government struck a deal with the Greens to get the legislation through the Senate on Thursday, fulfilling Senator Watt’s promise that he would get it done in the final sitting week of the year.
Anthony Albanese and his ministers have charged the Coalition was unwilling to come to the table with a comprehensible plan, sparking criticism that the Opposition Leader mismanaged negotiations.
Grilled on the blow-by-blow on Sunday, Ms Ley was asked if it was true she ignored a text from the Prime Minister suggesting a meet the day before he announced the deal with the Greens.
“There’s only one text that is relevant here – that is the text from me to the Prime Minister that remains unanswered,” she told Sky News.
Asked if she was denying that Mr Albanese invited her to meet, she said they had “a conversation … about a variety of aspects of Murray Watt’s negotiations”.
“I then sent a text, I don’t ever reveal the contents of those texts, others can,” Ms Ley said.
“And it was clear that the text was not responded to because obviously by then, the government had decided to do the deal with the Greens.”
She rejected that she left it too late to talk and blamed Mr Albanese.
“I want to make this very, very clear. This was a political fix,” she said.
“And I can demonstrate that with this simple fact in that last week, Murray Watt was walking around the building with two sets of amendments – one for the Coalition and one for the Greens.
“What does that tell you? ‘I must get the deal done. It doesn’t matter what it is. I just need to get a deal done.’”
Ms Ley said that was “not the integrity of the legislative process that Australians have come to expect”.
“There was no rush,” she said.
“We’re talking 1500 pages of legislation.
“And if you want to talk about the Prime Minister and his ministers being tricky, as they have been across a range of areas this entire year, we could not get the black and white details of the amendments out of them, almost until the 11th hour.
“There was no willingness.”
The legislation was based on an independent review handed down in 2020, when the Coalition was in government.
The laws include setting up a federal environment protection agency, room to create national environmental standards, streamlined development approvals and tighter rules on logging.
An environment minister can also approve projects that violate nature laws if they are deemed in the national interest.
A key concession the Greens negotiated was that this cannot extend to coal or gas projects.
Also appearing on Sky a short time later, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher praised Senator Watt “for getting this bill through” and that “nobody liked the existing act”.
“They said, whether you’re an environmentalist or in business or any state jurisdiction or the Commonwealth, everyone accepted it wasn’t working,” Senator Gallagher said.
“It wasn’t fit for purpose, and I think the big breakthrough that comes with this legislation is speeding up the assessment pathways.
“Whether you’re in the fast track or whether you just have your proposal ready to go with all the work that needs to be done, that the assessment process will be faster and simpler, and that is good for business.
“And I think all credit to Murray Watt, actually, for getting this bill through.
“We needed to change the EPBC. It wasn’t working for anyone. There was universal agreement about that. And now we’ve got a new arrangement in place.”
Originally published as Ley accuses Labor of ‘political fix’ with environmental reforms
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