Sky News interview with Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek

SUBJECTS: CENTRAL QUEENSLAND COAL PROJECT DECISION.

LAURA JAYES, HOST: Welcome back. The Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek, has killed off a Queensland coal project backed by mining magnate Clive Palmer. The mine was deemed an environmental threat as it would have been located just 10 kilometres from the Great Barrier Reef. Mr Palmer’s proposed project would have extracted up to 10 million tonnes of coal per year when it was operational. It’s the first-time environment laws have been used to block a coal mine in about two decades. 

Joining me live now is the Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek. Thanks so much for your time. Why did you make this decision?

TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Good morning. Well, I made this decision after a lot of careful consideration because I decided based on the evidence before me that there was an unacceptable risk to the Great Barrier Reef, to freshwater creeks and groundwater leading into the reef. Now, this is, as you said, Laura, about 10 kilometres from the Great Barrier Reef shoreline, and when you get to that near shore area on the Great Barrier Reef you’ve got seagrass meadows that are really important feeding and breeding grounds for dugongs, which are threatened, fish and other animals, marine life. But also, the freshwater and the groundwater that would be around the mine site, they were part of my considerations as well. 

JAYES: Okay. You flagged this in August anyway. We now had a final decision yesterday. So, what evidence did you get in that intervening time that firmed up your decision? 

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, I did flag it in August, and as part of my legal obligations as the minister I then have to allow the proponent of the decision to respond to my concerns, to offer any additional scientific evidence or any additional arguments that they want to make. And I also have to give the public and other interested parties the opportunity to make additional comments as well. And so, we did have additional comments from the project proponents. 

I had about 9,000 contacts actually – letters, emails and so on – and about 98 per cent of them actually supported my original decision based on the fact that the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and Marine Park are incredibly precious natural environments, and also a really important part of the Queensland economy. We’re talking about more than $6 billion contributed to the economy each year, around 64,000 jobs. Any risk to the Great Barrier Reef is something that I have to consider very carefully. 

JAYES: Just on those 9,000 comments, how muscular, if you like, were those comments? You asked for feedback, but are we talking about, just, you know, comments on a social media page or emails from activists? Or were these, you know, firm, considered submissions? 

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Look, there was a really quite broad range of comments that people made from your standard sort of email that you’re talking about to, you know, quite well argued and thoughtful contributions from organisations that have greater capacity to make a scientific sort of contribution. So, it was a wide range of comment. But it’s quite right that the, you know, your ordinary person, your ordinary citizen, has a right to say about this stuff as well. 

I should say, of course I looked very carefully at those comments, but, really, the deciding factor for me was the scientific advice that we had from experts that, you know, there were unacceptable risks here when it came to potential contamination of creeks, groundwater and the effect that that potentially would have on the Great Barrier Reef. 

JAYES: Okay, the proximity to the Great Barrier Reef is one thing, of course. These laws haven’t been used in about 22 years, as I understand it. So, the industry is looking at this decision now and going, “Well, what other fossil fuel projects are going to be stopped with these laws?” Are you actively considering others? What else is in your sights? 

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, I’ll make a decision on a case-by-case basis on every project that comes before me. And I know that, you know, the Greens and others are saying that we should just refuse every application for a coal mine or gas project, whatever. That’s absolutely not what I’m doing here. I’ve made a decision on one project based on the science before me that says that the risk to the Great Barrier Reef and to freshwater ecosystems in the area is an unacceptable risk. 

JAYES: Yeah, but are you setting a precedent here for all fossil fuel projects or just those close to the Great Barrier Reef? 

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, every decision before me, whether it’s a mining project or an energy project, transmission lines, housing estates, each one of them has to be decided on its merits. So, we have the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act that’s been in operation, as you say, for about 20 years. We’re reforming that legislation actually as we speak as well based on the recommendations of Professor Graeme Samuel to the previous Government. We want to make decisions faster. We want to have better environmental protection and faster decision-making for business. That’s another area of work for me. But I’m operating on the current laws at the moment and on the current laws I’m making a decision case by case. And in this case the risks were unacceptable.

JAYES: You are setting a precedent here, though. You’re the new Environment Minister essentially – not so new; it’s been eight months since the election – but should fossil fuel companies and those with projects in the works, are they on notice? Should they be a little bit nervous here that there’s a new kind of boundary which they need to work within? 

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, I guess there’s two things to say. The first is we know from the State of the Environment Report that the Australian environment is in bad shape and getting worse. And if we just keep doing what we’ve been doing we’re going to be facing things like the extinction of the koala in Australia. That’s not something I’m prepared to accept. So, we do need to better protect the environment. 

On the other hand, I also want to see Australian jobs. I want to see homes built. I want to see renewable energy projects go ahead. So, we need to have a system that speeds up decision-making for environmentally sustainable projects. I want to see jobs. 

And I think one of the great ironies here is you’ve got these, you know, some of the Queensland MPs talking about the jobs impact of this project not proceeding. They are shaping up to vote against a $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund that the Australian Government is proposing that is all about Australian jobs. I mean, they are preparing to vote against ‘Made in Australia’. They’re voting against ‘Made in Australia’, and they’re talking about jobs impact. So, there’s a bit of hypocrisy I think from those who are concerned about jobs, because we’ve got a $15 billion fund that we want to invest in job creation and they’re voting against it. 

JAYES: Sure. Just a really quick one here as well, because Matt Canavan was on Sky News last night saying this decision is essentially inflationary, it’s going to put more pressure on households. But as I understand it, this coal project from Clive Palmer, it was all going to be exported. 

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, this is all about coal for export. 

JAYES: Was it? 

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yes, this is all about coal for export. This coal was going to be exported. Most of the coal is metallurgical coal, so it would have been used for steel making. There’s a little bit of coal right at the end of the project that would be used for energy, but, you know, it just shows that they’re not paying attention. This is coal for export. 

JAYES: Okay. Tanya Plibersek, thank you for your time. 

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Thank you.