The last legislative action of the Albanese government before the election was announced said it all, sadly – they teamed up with the Liberal and National parties to further weaken Australian environmental protection.
What was dressed up by the Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, as a solution to ‘uncertainty’ was in reality a sop to the destructive salmon farming industry in Tasmania, along with other industries driving native species to extinction, amidst the steady decline of entire ecosystems.
The new Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation legislation effectively weakens the power of any future environment minister to interrupt business operations, wildlife and World Heritage be damned.
In the eyes of Anthony Albanese, 22 jobs for salmon workers in Macquarie Harbour, the blessing of the polluting business which employs them, and prospective victory in the seat of Lyons trumps all other considerations.
Because the legislation was rushed through, it won’t go to a Senate inquiry, and will have ramifications well beyond Tasmania. From now on, five years after the approval of any fishing, mining or land clearing project, regardless of the level of environmental destruction or associated extinction threats, the environment minister will no longer have the power to press the pause button, or reconsider an approval.
Moments before the bill was passed, on the floor of the Senate, the Greens’ Sarah Hanson-Young described it as a ‘stitch-up’ between the big parties to gut Australia’s environment laws.
As she put it, ‘The minister will not be able to look after the environment, because the interests of the corporations will have been embedded into the law…
‘This is about protecting those industries from environmental scrutiny and from being held up to the requirements of environmental protection law. It allows a free-for-all for environmental destruction,’ said Hanson-Young.
It’s not hard to see why Peter Dutton was so keen to get on board. Gina Rinehart can chalk up another win no matter who wins the election.
Election budget
Jim Chalmers’ budget announcement a few days later offered big bucks for steel and aluminium companies to transition to more renewable operations, but only $50 million a year to address the ongoing extinction crisis, which seems likely to engulf Macquarie Harbour’s Maugean skate long before any help arrives.
Ecological experts say that serious action to conserve Australia’s many threatened species would cost $2 billion a year.
The government appears to be ignoring recent polling from YouGov and Essential Research that found the majority of Australians want more action to preserve our country’s unique environment and its threatened species.
Polling from the Lowy Institute and others also consistently shows that most voters see global warming as a serious and pressing problem, even if cost of living now dominates everything. Of course, the two issues are intimately connected.
Over in his parallel universe, Peter Dutton didn’t mention climate once in his budget reply speech, though he did mention nuclear twice and gas 23 times.
While the Albanese government has been a massive disappointment during this term on environmental issues, for anyone still capable of being disappointed by Labor, there are a few tiny glimmers of hope.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has consistently stood up to Peter Dutton’s nonsense on nuclear and gas, including his extremely rubbery accounting.
Tanya Plibersek has delayed the decision on Woodside’s $30 billion North West Shelf gas project from March until 31 May, with Traditional Owners in Western Australia pleading with her to at least meet them and see the affected area before signing off on the plan.
(Dutton has vowed to fast-track a decision within 30 days if elected.)
Recently, the Albanese government has protected large new areas of ocean in Australia’s territorial waters (at least on paper), and committed $250 million in funding to protect an additional 30 million hectares of land over the next five years (bringing the total area of the country under reserve to 30 per cent).
While this is far short of the $5 billion fund environmental NGOs have said is necessary to buy, protect and maintain crucial habitat and biodiversity, it’s clearly better than nothing.
If Labor can scrape back in for another term, will they work with the Greens and crossbench to do something serious about Australia’s massive environmental challenges, or continue to serve the interests of big business, in spite of being repaid only with scorn?
The federal election will be held on Saturday, 3 May.
Originally from Canberra, David Lowe is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and photographer with particular interests in the environment and politics. He’s known for his campaigning work with Cloudcatcher Media.
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