THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SKY NEWS FIRST EDITION WITH PETER STEFANOVIC
THURSDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2024
SUBJECTS: NATURE POSITIVE LAWS; CHILDCARE.
PETER STEFANOVIC, HOST: This week, Anthony Albanese rejected a deal with the Greens to establish an Environment Protection Authority. Now what's notable about this is that just days earlier, the Environment Minister said she was negotiating with the minor party as well as the Coalition to try and fulfil an election promise.
Joining us live now is the Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek. Minister, good to see you. Thanks for your time this morning. So, what happened here? Did you freelance and then were brought into line by the PM?
TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: No, not at all. We are absolutely determined to establish an Environment Protection Agency. That was an election commitment and we're working across the parliament to do that. The bill that is in the Senate at the moment is a bill that went through the House of Representatives unamended. It's a good bill. People should vote for it as it is. Of course, we're continuing to talk to the crossbench, the minor parties, the Liberals and the Nationals, because we want to see this legislation pass. What it does is establish Environment Protection Australia with strong new powers and penalties. It's an agency that will better protect the environment but also speed up those approvals processes that businesses want to see if we can give businesses lots of information upfront about avoiding threatened species, avoiding sensitive habitats. They can design projects that can be quickly and efficiently approved. The bill stands on its merits, but all the way through I've been saying, of course, if there are sensible improvements that people come up with, willing to listen to them and we're willing to listen to them from across the Senate.
STEFANOVIC: But why did you say you were negotiating with the Greens, though, and then the Prime Minister said you weren't?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, what the Prime Minister has said is that the Prime Minister and the Australian Labor Party are not going to amend the bill to include what's called a climate trigger. And this is something that the Greens have been asking for. We're not going to do it because the safeguard mechanism is the way that we deal with carbon emissions in this country. That's a mechanism that the Greens and the crossbench voted for and agreed with. It's bringing down carbon emissions and we're not going to have two different ways of dealing with carbon pollution, one in the safeguard mechanism and one in the environment law, because that's just common sense.
STEFANOVIC: So, you and the PM are cool?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, always.
STEFANOVIC: Okay. So, it doesn't seem, though, you're having any success so far, though. Do these reforms get kicked into the next term now?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Oh, no, I certainly haven't given up. My door's still open. I'm continuing to talk with Senators, and I'd like to see this bill passed. There is nothing in this bill that the Greens actually object to. What they're complaining about is that we're not implementing their election policy in our bill. Well, that's not a reasonable barrier, right. We've got a bill that is a good bill. It should be voted on its merits. It's got great policies there that better protect nature. It is also about speeding up decision making so that good projects can actually get off the ground faster. Setting up Environment Information Australia means that people who are wanting to build a housing project or a road or some infrastructure actually can get information upfront so they can avoid sensitive areas, avoid threatened species. It means that they can get environmental data that they would otherwise be collecting themselves. Sometimes over the course of several years, they can use that data to see their project approvals, speed it up by months or even by years. That's a really good thing for business. It's what they've been calling out for. And that's why the Liberals and Nationals should also be voting for this bill as it is.
STEFANOVIC: Ok, just a final one here before we go on childcare. You had those recommendations from the Productivity Commission yesterday. How does that change? Or how will that form your approach to childcare and will that be an election pitch for next term?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Look, I think this Productivity Commission Report is incredibly valuable. It's got 56 recommendations. So, obviously, Anne Aly, the Early Childhood Minister, and Jason Clare the Education Minister, will have to take some time to examine the recommendations. But at the centre of it, what it's saying is that the kids who are most likely to miss out on early childhood education and care now are the kids from the most disadvantaged families and they're the ones who would benefit most from it. The really important thing about this report is that it actually says early childhood education and care is good in itself. It's good for kids and it's also good for productivity for Australia. We can release the talents of a whole lot of working parents who would love to be back in the workforce or working more days a week if only they could afford the childcare. So, it's good for kids and it's good for parents, but it's also good for the nation if we get this right.
STEFANOVIC: Tanya Plibersek, we'll leave it there, but thank you for your time, as always.
ENDS
