The Albanese government has continued to prioritise profit over the environment, signalling their intention to make a deal with the Liberals to water down the powers of their proposed environment regulator, Environment Protection Australia (EPA).
The announcement, made in Western Australia in a gesture of support to the mining industry, confirmed that Albanese was considering making the new EPA “compliance-only”. In other words, Albanese would water down its powers so that instead of being able to review and stop mining and development projects, it would just enforce compliance with existing environment laws.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has defended the concessions, claiming that, “There is something in this for everyone—the whole idea is to have a system that is both better for nature and for business.” This is a fantasy.
When Labor introduced the legislation for the EPA, they talked it up as a “tough cop on the beat” which would have strong powers and, “make environmental assessments, decide project approvals and the conditions attached to them”.
The Greens have demanded that Labor introduce a “climate trigger” as part of the changes, meaning that climate impacts would be considered when approving new projects. Although Albanese himself supported the idea in 2005, he has now ruled it out.
The legislation needed to introduce the EPA is currently held up in parliament, with The Greens and the Liberals both refusing to pass it.
Greens leader Adam Bandt has rightly called the current version a, “dirty deal with the Liberals to further weaken our already-weak environment and climate laws.” But the Liberals have also refused to help pass the legislation despite Labor’s concessions aimed at winning their support.
The fact that Labor would reject the idea of a climate trigger proves just how seriously they are committed to running business as usual in the face of the climate crisis.
At the end of September, Tanya Plibersek also approved three coal mine expansions in NSW with a total of 1.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
At the same time, the climate crisis is escalating. In recent months millions have been displaced or severely impacted by flooding and typhoons in South and Southeast Asia. Tens of thousands of fires are raging across Brazil as it faces one of its most severe droughts in history.
“I won’t be putting my head in the sand” was the promise from Plibersek in 2022, but that is exactly what she has done as she continues to delay climate action at a time when it is so urgently needed.
By Angus Dermody
