'
Revealed: Labour’s natural law concessions in a bid to win Green or Coalition support
International

Revealed: Labour’s natural law concessions in a bid to win Green or Coalition support

author
2 minutes, 47 seconds Read

Labor has unveiled its latest pitch to both the Greens and the Coalition in a bid to drum up support for environmental law overhaul.
The 1,500 pages of reforms are ahead of a Senate inquiry, but the government is increasing pressure to meet its self-imposed Christmas deadline.
The committee heard from industry, business and environmental groups.

Concerns vary, from streamlining approvals, weakening environmental protections and ministerial discretion undermining reforms, to reporting requirements that could delay projects.

With just two days left in the parliamentary year, Environment Minister Murray Watt is urging the parties to “get this done”.
“The Act of Parliament you are talking about is 25 years old, it is hopelessly outdated and broken, it now needs to be fixed,” he told Sky News on Tuesday.
“We can keep talking about this for years, or we can actually work together to pass these reforms this week.”
SBS News has obtained a copy of the concessions sent to the Greens and the Coalition ahead of their party room meetings on Tuesday morning.

Here you will find an overview of the offer.

The Greens

The Greens have called for a ban on indigenous logging, while Labor instead assured the party on Sunday that the indigenous forestry industry would have to meet proposed new national environmental standards within three years.

Building on the momentum, Labor has sought to allay concerns around the expansion of coal and gas by excluding them from the national interest exemption.
It will also limit the accelerated implementation of fossil fuel projects, as well as access to new, streamlined assessment pathways.
If a deal is struck with the Greens, the government will not go ahead with plans to transfer a water trigger or assessments for projects based on surface and groundwater impacts to the states.

The government will review bilateral agreements with states and, in some cases, give them discretionary powers or approvals. In any case, the minister will retain the final decision-making power, even if there is a bilateral agreement.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is part of the committee examining environmental protection laws and argues that three years is “too long” for the indigenous forestry industry. Source: MONKEY / Mick Tsikas

Last month, Watt shut down the Greens’ demands for a climate trigger, which would see projects rejected if they worsened carbon emissions or affected climate change.

The coalition

The government sought to allay concerns that the penalties for breaches are too high – up to $1.6 million for individuals or $825 million for companies – by saying they would only apply to “the most serious and egregious breaches.”
Controversial ‘stop work’ orders halting projects will be in effect for up to fourteen days.

The minister will have the power to set KPIs and fire the head of the proposed National Environmental Protection Agency, addressing concerns that they have too much power.

Of the seven demands submitted by the coalition last week, two important points are missing.
The amendments do not provide workable definitions of the unacceptable impact test for highly polluting projects that result in their denial, or what constitutes a net benefit or parameters to demonstrate how the project minimizes damage or improves the environment.
It is expected that the definitions, together with the lack of attempt to address scope 1 and 2 emissions reporting requirements, will not resonate with relevant industry stakeholders.

#Revealed #Labours #natural #law #concessions #bid #win #Green #Coalition #support

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *