Doorstop, Parliament House

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: We've just passed a very significant milestone in the long running journey to pass serious environmental reforms in this country. I'm very pleased to see the House of Representatives has just passed the government's Environment Protection Reform Bill. This is a really significant step forward in the fight to reform our environment laws in a way that deliver both for the environment and for business.

With these laws now having passed the House of Representatives, we are so close to passing the kind of environmental law reforms that we should have done years ago. As I've said many times, it's been five long years since Graeme Samuel tabled his recommendations that needed to be delivered by this Parliament to deliver those gains for the environment and business, and now today we are so close to achieving that.

The ball is now in the Coalition and the Greens’ court to help us pass these reforms through the Senate in the last sitting week of the year. With the House of Representatives passing this Bill, it is now set up for the Senate to consider and pass these laws in the last sitting week of the year. There is no excuse for the Coalition and the Greens to continue the blocking tactics that they have employed for too many years, and to get in the way of these very much needed reforms. There'll be Senate committee hearings between now and when we return for the last sitting week, and that will give people an opportunity to put forward their case. The Coalition and the Greens need to listen. They need to get with the program and get these laws passed so that we can deliver to the environment and business. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Earlier today you sort of said that it's becoming clearer now what both the Coalition and the Greens want. So, the coalition were concerned around unacceptable impacts. Greens’ concerned around climate and native forest. You said in relation to both that - so in the Greens you said Greens are seeking changes relating to climate change and forestry, so we'll give some thought to all of those options. On the point about climate change, you've ruled out a climate trigger. What other options are there available?

MURRAY WATT: Look, it's a little too early for me to be saying that because we need to get fully formed positions from both the Coalition and the Greens –

JOURNALIST: But you said it.

MURRAY WATT: What I said this morning is that it is becoming clearer the types of changes that they want, but we actually need to see some detail from both the Coalition and the Greens about what changes they will request. We've gone to the trouble of providing a Bill that lays out in detail exactly what our reforms involve, and it's now up to the Coalition and the Greens to move on from the generalities and to start presenting real detail about what changes they would require in order to support the Bill.

JOURNALIST: Just one final one on that. So in relation to climate, you think there's potential scope to include climate beyond the reporting requirements [inaudible].

MURRAY WATT: Our position remains that we want to implement the recommendation that Graeme Samuel put forward which focuses on disclosure of emissions and abatement plans. If there's other ideas that the Greens have got that they want us to consider, my door is open and I'm happy to consider them.
 
JOURNALIST: Minister, just to that point though that the deal as it stands expressly prevents the Minister from considering any of those disclosures in a decision, which also means that any conditions then attached would also be prevented from, you know, factoring in whatever projected emissions the proponent puts forward. Would you be willing to at least move on that so that those things can form the thinking of the decision?

MURRAY WATT: We've said all along that we support the recommendation Graeme Samuel put forward around disclosure of emissions and abatement plans. We don't see that there's a place in this legislation for ministers to consider those emissions when deciding whether to approve projects or not, and that's because we do already have a range of measures in place through other legislation to reduce the emissions of those projects. But, as I say, I've been very clear about that point for a long time now. But I'm happy to consider whatever amendments the Coalition and the Greens want to support. I think it's surprising that we saw the Greens today vote with Barnaby Joyce and a bunch of climate change deniers in order to oppose this legislation. They've got two weeks to recognise that there are substantial gains for the environment in this Bill and they should get behind them, just as the Coalition should from a business point of view.

JOURNALIST: Just on that though, do you recognise the arguments of climate groups of seeing some thinking factored in before a decision point is made, so the Safeguard isn't suddenly lumped with extra projects that it sort of has to factor in. Is there value in that?

MURRAY WATT: I understand the argument that's being put, but I respectfully disagree with that argument, and so does the government as a whole. We think that what we've put forward in this bill around disclosing emissions reflects the recommendation that Graeme Samuel put forward, while also ensuring that emitting projects need to reduce their emissions under policies like the Safeguard Mechanism. But as I say, the ball is now in the court of the Coalition and the Greens to come forward with exactly what amendments they would require to support this Bill.

JOURNALIST: Sarah Hanson-Young has said she thinks your Bill “stinks.” Has she been quite that forthcoming and honest in her assessment in your private conversations, or are you confident of a deal?

MURRAY WATT: Well, you can always rely on the Greens to resort to lots of rhetoric. It will surprise you to hear that when I meet with both the Coalition and the Greens, what they say to me is a little bit different to what they say in the media. The Greens, of course, are campaigning and fundraising on the back of these reforms. They want to use inflammatory language to boost their membership, to boost their fundraising. What I'm about is delivering laws that deliver for the environment and business.

JOURNALIST: Minister, every year there seems there's some bill that gets held back around this time of year. Would you consider delaying the Senate or guillotining debate in the final week to get this through before the long break?

MURRAY WATT: I'm very committed to passing these reforms before we finish for the year. I don't think it needs those sorts of measures in order to get this done. This is a debate that has been going on for five years. People understand the issues very well. I've obviously done a lot of consultation coming into this role myself, but there was a lot of consultation that occurred before that as well. We all know what the issues are. We all know the environment is going backwards. We all know that projects are being held up by red tape. And we all know the way to fix that is by the Senate helping us pass this legislation in the last week of the year.

JOURNALIST: Minister, I understand you're meeting Angie Bell shortly. You showed environmental groups, perhaps, how the sausage was made earlier today. Will you also be having another talk with the Greens before you leave Canberra today?

MURRAY WATT: Actually, Angie Bell and I have agreed that we'll have that meeting now early next week. Of course, the debate has only just finished, so it's probably going to be more productive if we have that discussion outside the hurly-burly of Parliament. But certainly, there's an intention to meet with both the Coalition and the Greens early next week. I've had numerous meetings with each side, and we'll keep doing that until we hammer out an arrangement where we can get these reforms passed.

JOURNALIST: Minister, your government’s landed a $13 billion critical minerals deal with the US. Industry and others have talked about how important investment certainty is to get the most out of this and to be reciprocal with the US. If this isn't passed until next year or mid next year, are you concerned about the impact that's going to have on this deal? Would it undermine the deal with the US?

MURRAY WATT: I'm very concerned that the longer this Bill takes to pass, the more investment uncertainty is created for critical minerals, for housing, for renewables, for industry in general. And that's why the Coalition should back these reforms. We saw in your newspaper today that the Minerals Council of Australia has agreed with the government that these laws need to be passed this year because if they don't, then we'll continue to have that investment uncertainty, and that means the loss of jobs for Australians as well. So, the Coalition have got every reason to work with us and pass these laws, just as the Greens have got every reason. The Greens say that they want to see the environment turned around, they say that fixing nature is urgent. Well, it is urgent, and it is urgent that we pass these reforms for both of those reasons.

JOURNALIST: In the last term of Parliament, an imminent deal between the former Environment Minister and the Greens was called off for whatever reason. I'm just wondering if you have clear parameters from your Cabinet colleagues on what you can and can't concede on in these negotiations. Is there a chance that you'll have to take amendments back and find out whether they're within the lines or not. Did you have a clear guideline of what you can cut a deal on or not?

MURRAY WATT: Of course, a bill of this magnitude you would expect has been considered by Cabinet. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about that for obvious reasons. But yes, the Cabinet has certainly given me some direction about the parameters of these reforms, and that's obviously what we're operating within. But I'm confident that within those parameters, we can reach an agreement between the Coalition and the Greens. As I've said many times, what we're looking for here is a bill that delivers to both the environment and to business. There is a lot in this Bill already that delivers for both the environment and business, and I want to keep the Coalition and the Greens focused on achieving both of those outcomes, not one or the other as we continue these negotiations in the next couple of weeks.

JOURNALIST: You’ve spoken on the urgency of seeing this Bill passed, if you don't have a deal by the final sitting week, would you be willing to try and put it to a vote anyway and make the Greens and Coalition put their money where their mouth is?

MURRAY WATT: We’ll consider all of that, I guess, closer to the time. My sole focus now is reaching an agreement with either the Coalition or the Greens in the next two weeks so that we can pass these laws. I'm not thinking about failing to pass them. I'm thinking about getting them done, because that will be really good news for the environment and the business community as we wrap up the parliamentary year. Ok? Thanks everyone. Good to see you.