THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
DRIVE WITH CHRIS O'KEEFE
THURSDAY, 28 NOVEMBER 2024
SUBJECT: EPA LEGISLATION
CHRIS O'KEEFE, HOST: And it's the last sitting day of the year in Canberra. Thank God for that. And there is turmoil everywhere you look. And something that caught my eye was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese scrapping a nearly finalised deal to create an Environmental Protection Agency, a federal one. So, Minister Tanya Plibersek had been working on this for months and months and months. But Western Australia's Premier, Roger Cook, and the mining lobby convinced Anthony Albanese to pull the plug. So, WA's celebrating, the Greens are furious, and Labor's environmental wing says it's a betrayal of the true believers. Why'd all this happen? Minister for the Environment Tanya Plibersek's on the line. Minister. G'day.
TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Hello, Chris. You're starting with all the easy questions.
O'KEEFE: You'd be disappointed in that, wouldn't you?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, I'm disappointed that the Senate hasn't voted for this bill because it's been with Senators for months now. They could have voted for it at any time. It went through the House of Representatives unamended. I mean, it is a bit of a frustrating time, these final weeks in Parliament. We've got the Senate debating government bills for less than half of the time They're actually in the chamber. They've got all these sort of procedural business things going on. You know, we want to see real improvements for Australians, and I'm pleased that they've passed legislation in the last few days, but there's not nearly enough of it happening. Not nearly enough of it.
O'KEEFE: But why did the Prime Minister pull the plug?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, there's a lot of bills that we're trying to get through, and we can't get them all through in this final week. We probably could if there was a bit more discipline in there and there wasn't quite as much, you know, yakety yak. A bit more bill passing and a bit less yakety yak. We probably would have got some more bills through, but sadly, we're not going to get all of the bills through that we are keen to see passed.
O'KEEFE: Did he discuss this with you?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Oh, of course we've been discussing it. I've discussed it both with the Prime Minister and with Senator Katy Gallagher, who organises the government business in the Senate. She's doing her very best to get dozens of pieces of legislation through in these final sitting days. And, you know, Katy's made clear that this bill will come back in February, so I very much hope that we'll get support for it, then.
O'KEEFE: Yeah, but you're coming to the end of term, Minister. This is a problem. We're just looking at some of the legislation, some of the bills in there. You've been shafted pretty badly: the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill, the Surveillance Legislation Bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment Mergers and Acquisitions Reform—all of higher priority than yours.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, I think they're all very important bills.
O'KEEFE: As important as yours, though? You've been working on it a very long time, trying to nail a deal on it. And then Albo says, oh, sorry, Tanya, we can't do it this year and maybe ever, because this might be the last sitting day of this parliament.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, it's like asking a parent whether they think their kids should get a lead in the Christmas play. Of course, you always think your own bill is the most important and your own kids are the greatest stars, but, you know, we're part of a team and I'd like to see this bill passed. Let's just go to what it does. It actually gives faster, clearer decisions for business. It helps us make, faster, clearer decisions, means projects get approved more quickly when they're at the right project in the right place. And it also gives stronger protections for nature because Australians love the bush, the ocean, our rivers. They won't be able to fish in a clean river and not only pull carp out of it, get the occasional, barramundi. They want to be able to go for a walk in the bush and see a koala with their grandkids. We need to protect our environment, and we also need faster decisions for business so that we've got a strong economy and the jobs that that brings with it.
O'KEEFE: On that logic, then, West Australian Premier Roger Cook doesn't love the environment?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, I don't know. People are speculating about, you know, who said what to whom.
O'KEEFE: Did the Premier, Roger Cook, ever discuss it with you?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: He has not called me about this legislation at all. And what I'd say to the West Australians is, you know, all of us feel the same way about jobs in this country. There's not a west Australian attitude to jobs and an eastern Australian attitude towards jobs. We want to see jobs and strong economic growth, but that means when we're building housing, when we're building new transport, roads, rail, when we're doing approving projects, mining projects, they just need to take account to make sure that they're not having an unacceptable impact on their neighbours and on the environment.
O'KEEFE: The climate trigger was one of the questions, I know the Greens were pushing it effectively. Projects could be scrapped if they created too much CO2. Is that part of this bill or not? Not that it matters now?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: No, no, no, absolutely not. And in fact, the Greens were asking for two things. They were asking for a climate trigger and an end to native forest logging. And we' were very clear that we weren't prepared to go there. And I mean, again, that's why I say these bills could be passed in their original form at any time. What we're not going to do is agree to unreasonable extra demands, whether it's from the Coalition or from the Greens or from any of the crossbench. This legislation is good legislation, and it should be passed on its merits.
O'KEEFE: I do note that the Australian said that the WA Minister for Mines and Petroleum informed a Chamber of Minerals and Energy Christmas event on Tuesday night, that Anthony Albanese contacted Mr. Cook personally, Premier Roger Cook, that a potential deal with the Greens was off. And that gave big, rapturous applause at the event. That must be a little disappointing for you, given how much work you've put into it.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, you know, of course it's disappointing. Not so much because of the work I've put into it, but because I know that our legislation would make things simpler for businesses and because it will give better protection so that we've still got this environment that we all love so much that is so uniquely Australian. We want it to be there for our kids and grandkids. So, I'm disappointed that it hasn't gone through yet, but I hope it'll go through in February and it's up to Senators to do that. I'd really like them to pass it on just my legislation, but all of the things that we're waiting on them to pass.
O'KEEFE: Is it also up to the Prime Minister, though? Is it also up to the Prime Minister to make it a priority of his government? Just like the gambling reform? You know, the late Peta Murphy. Those recommendations were 18 months ago and with the greatest of respect and pardon the French, but, my god, you're stuffing around with it.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: No, I'm sorry, Chris. I was very close to Peta Murphy.
O'KEEFE: She's a beautiful person and it was a wonderful report and I 100 per cent agree with every word of it. And that does not make me popular with my employer. I just don't understand why you're not doing it.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, well, we've done more gambling law reform than any other government in Australian history. We've made all sorts of changes. We'll continue to progress more reforms in the future. We've got a lot. We’ve got a lot done in this Parliament. We've got a lot done already and there's a lot of competition from Ministers to get their particular priorities up and on the agenda. And sadly, mine hasn't been concluded this week, but I'm looking forward to February.
O'KEEFE: All right. All the best Minister. Appreciate you coming on.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Always a pleasure to talk to you.
END
