Doorstop, Perth

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Thanks everyone for coming along today. It's terrific to be back here in Perth. This is my fourth visit to Perth since being appointed as the Minister for the Environment a few months ago to meet with a range of stakeholders about the reforms that we're proposing to Australia's national environmental laws. Obviously, WA is a big focus for these laws. We want to make sure that these laws work both for business and the environment here in Western Australia as well as of course the rest of the country.

In this visit, yesterday I met with Premier Roger Cook, again, I think that's the fifth time I've now met with Premier Cook since taking on this role. I’ve met with a number of his other Ministers, I've just spoken with the breakfast of members of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry here in Western Australia. And over the course of the day I'll be meeting, again, with the Chamber of Minerals and Energy, the Association of Mining Exploration Companies, and last week I met with a number of Australia's leading environmental organisations, including some based here in Western Australia.

So as you can see, we've been very busy undertaking consultations over the last few months, building on the work that was done in the last term. I think I'm now approaching close to 80 meetings personally with state governments, with industry, with environment groups, with communities about these reforms. Because we want to get these reforms right.

You will have possibly heard me say previously that we're intending to introduce this legislation to the Federal Parliament before the end of the year and we want to pass these reforms as quickly as we can. And the reason for that, which was reinforced to me today at the breakfast with the CCIWA, is that both our business communities and our environment desperately need change. Five years ago, Graeme Samuel delivered a review for the former Federal Government, in fact, has Sussan Ley as the then Environment Minister, saying that our national environmental laws are broken. They're not working for business, they're not working for the environment, and they're not working for our community. So that's why there has to be some urgency in getting these laws changed.

One of the key focuses for the discussions I'm having in Western Australia this time is how we can remove duplication in the approvals and assessment systems for projects to speed up approvals and assessments and get economic development happening. It's important at the same time as doing that that we make sure that we do have strong national environmental safeguards to ensure that in the process of approving and considering developments, the environment is protected, and in fact, is restored. And you may have seen some coverage today that one of the things that I've been able to do while here is begin discussions with Premier Cook about entering a bi-lateral agreement between the Federal Government and the Western Australian Government that would see us remove the duplication that currently exists in the system between the need to have state-based assessments and approvals and federally-based assessments and approvals as well.

That kind of duplication where people have got to go through two different systems with two different governments adds months, and in some cases, years to the time it takes to approve and consider projects and what that means is that we aren't getting the housing that Australia needs, the renewable energy that Australia needs, the critical minerals development that Australia needs, and the general economic prosperity that Australia needs.

So I was very pleased that the Premier is keen to enter and to have those sort of discussions about a bi-lateral agreement which, as I say, is all about speeding up the approvals and consideration of projects while maintaining strong environmental standards. Our Department has actually done some work about what the economic value of those kind of reforms would be, and simply by looking at a couple of hundred projects that have been through our federal system in recent times, if we were to be able to move to these kind of reforms that speed up the consideration of projects and their approval, the savings to the business community and the national economy are at least half a billion dollars and potentially up to $7 billion in savings to the national economy. So there are very strong economic and productivity reasons for us to get these reforms through the Parliament, and we're certainly hoping and expecting to have support for those reforms from both the Coalition and the Greens Party, once we introduce them. Happy to take any questions.

JOURNALIST: How do you feel that the meeting with the Premier went yesterday?

MURRAY WATT: It was a very positive meeting, as I have to say, every meeting I've had with the Premier has been. The Premier has been very vocal about the need to change our national environmental laws to better protect Western Australia’s environment, but also, of course, to get the economic development happening here in Western Australia that we all want to see happen.

So the Premier has played a very positive and constructive role, he's supportive of the work that we're doing. He's offering to assist in any of the right way that he can to ensure that these reforms go through. So I'll be very much looking forward to working with him through this process until these laws are passed.

JOURNALIST: Roger Cook said, you know, he would support the reforms if they would boost environmental protection and also fast track approvals. Are you confident that they can do both with these reforms?

MURRAY WATT: Yes, I am very confident that we can both deliver better environmental protections for Australia and also speed up the approvals process. Unfortunately, a lot of the time in the political debate we get into this discussion about that it's a binary outcome - you can either have good business outcomes or good environmental outcomes. The truth is you can actually have both. And if you look at the work that I've done since being the Environmental Minister, I think we've demonstrated that we can achieve economic gains while protecting the environment and they're the kind of outcomes that we want to see happen.

The problem with the current laws is that the processes are too clunky, they are seeing our environment go backwards, and we want to fix that, we want to see that business development happen at the same time as strengthening environmental protections, and I'm very confident we can deliver that in these reforms.

JOURNALIST: How would an application proceed through if the bi-lateral agreement came in place and would it be applied retrospectively to the projects that are in the pipeline?

MURRAY WATT: What is most likely is that projects that are already in the pipeline and have already been applied for would continue to be processed under the current Act. Obviously, the law that applies at a point in time when a project is referred is the law that applies to a project. It would be an option for proponents to decide to withdraw an application and reapply and begin again under the new laws if that's what they choose to do, and that's going to be a decision for them to make.

But in practical terms, what these changes would mean if we can enter this bi-lateral agreement with Western Australia is that rather than having to go through a lengthy assessment of a project and its environmental impact at the state level and then do it all over again with the Federal Government, we can do it once. We can do it once subject to national environmental standards to ensure that we have that environmental protection that we're looking for, but to potentially cut the timeframes for approvals from decades to years, and from years to months.

JOURNALIST: So it goes to a federal oversight first straight off, is that what you’re saying?

MURRAY WATT: Well, initially the project would be referred to the Federal Government under our laws, but what the intention would be to have a process available under those laws where the project can then effectively be referred to the state government for assessment. Many times in some of those projects that have taken many years to complete, if the assessment of the environmental impacts which takes the bulk of the time, and we want to slash that time by having to do that process only once, rather than duplicating the process which costs time and money and delivers no environmental gain.

JOURNALIST: Is speeding up the environmental approvals process though, posing a risk to the environment?

MURRAY WATT: I don't think it needs to be that way. As I say, one of the other key parts of these reforms, which was recommended by Graeme Samuel, was that we should create for the first time national environmental standards that need to be met when projects are being assessed. We don't have that at the moment and what that means is that it's very difficult for proponents and decision makers to work out what are the standards that we're expecting when it comes to assessing a project. We're going to be very clear about that by making drafted fully public national environmental standards. And it will be those benchmarks that projects need to reach in order to get the tick. So this comes back to that point that you can have quicker processes and deliver better environmental outcomes and that's what we'll be seeking to achieve in these reforms.

JOURNALIST: You said you've met with the Premier five times. Is that the most of any other state?

MURRAY WATT: Yes, I've had discussions with a number of other state leaders and Treasurers and Environment Ministers about this. But without doubt, Premier Cook would be the most spoken with Premier, he's got a very strong interest in this, and he's been a very big advocate for change.

JOURNALIST: The laws will also cut time frame for federal approval from 70 days to 50 days. Do you think that 50-day mark is achievable? Given we’re already seeing delays in the current process?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, what that's about is saying that we want to be able to offer a range of different pathways under these laws that proponents can take to have their projects assessed. You may have seen previous coverage of me talking about having regional plans, which would involve “go zones” and “no-go zones” within a particular region. That's one example of trying to speed up the process.

But also, what we want to be able to do is offer what will be known as a streamlined assessment pathway, where proponents who provide the kind of information we need about environmental impacts upfront, complete information, would get a much faster pathway through the process than what we see at the moment. A lot of the time that is taken in the assessment of projects at the moment involves back and forth between proponents and the Department about the type of information that's required to assess what the environmental impact is going to be. If we can incentivise proponents to provide all of that information upfront, then that allows us to do the job much more quickly and get an approval and assessment through much more quickly. So they're the kind of reforms that we're looking at including in the Bill.

JOURNALIST: You say you may get the Bill through this year, how are negotiations going with the Coalition and the Greens, what's the most likely, you know, path forward for this?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, look, I'm having very constructive negotiations with both the Coalition and the Greens. Last week I met with the with the Shadow Environment Minister for the third time about the legislation and later this week will be my third meeting with the Greens Spokesperson. So we're putting a lot of effort in there to explain what our proposals are and to understand from them what they're going to be looking for when they're considering whether to pass these reforms.

We've always said that we're open to passing this Bill with the support of either the Coalition or the Greens or preferably both. I’m not entering these negotiations with the view that we want to do it with one side or the other. I think both the Coalition and the Greens paid a heavy price at the last federal election for being seen by the Australian public to be blocking changes and blocking legislation, obstructing progress. And I'd like to think that they take that into account and don't want to see a repeat of that when we come to tabling this Bill.

JOURNALIST: Have either of the parties asked you to amend anything in the proposal?

MURRAY WATT: We're not at that stage, it's really more at the stage of me explaining to the Coalition and the Greens the key components of the Bill, getting their feedback on that and then raising some of the issues that are of interest to them. But there's been no discussion about amendments yet.

JOURNALIST: Is there a serious risk this could get all referred to a Senate inquiry?

MURRAY WATT: Well, it'll be a matter for the Senate to determine whether it wants to set up an inquiry. I would expect that is likely for a Bill like this. And then it's a matter for the Senate to continue to consider how long that Senate inquiry goes for. As I've said, I think it's in everyone's interests, the community, the environment, and the business interests as well to get these laws passed as quickly as possible, and I'd like to think that after five years of work on these reforms, well before I became the Minister, that we could actually get moving on making these changes and reaping the business benefits and the environmental benefits that will flow.

JOURNALIST: Based on the conversations you've had over the past sort of 24 hours, how optimistic are you that you get that support from WA for these reforms?

MURRAY WATT: I feel that whether it be the meetings that I've been having with the Premier, his Ministers, with business groups and environment groups here in Western Australia, there is a very high degree of enthusiasm for reforming these laws. Now there will always be discussions about level of detail, and we'll keep talking with people about that. But there is broad acknowledgement here in Western Australia that our national environment laws are broken, they are failing the environment, they are failing the business and they are failing the community and that's why we urgently need change.

JOURNALIST: Just a question from Canberra, is the model of environmental reforms you're setting up with WA, a model you'll adopt elsewhere, and does it mean you won't need as big of federal Environmental Protection Agency?

MURRAY WATT: So in answer to the first question, we would be interested in entering these sorts of agreements with other states as well. The reason I've started here in WA is that the Premier has been very clear to me in previous conversations that he's very keen to explore this and it does have the support - broader support here in Western Australia as well.

We have a similar agreement in place in New South Wales already and we can look at working with them about potentially expanding that agreement, but the problem is that we don't even have an agreement that is functioning here in Western Australia which allows for that removal of duplication when it comes to the assessment of projects. So it's a really positive step, I think, that the Premier is keen, we're keen and we can start working on that and what that agreement would look like.

Sorry, your second question about the EPA?

JOURNALIST: Yeah, does it mean you won’t need as big of a federal Environmental Protection Agency?

MURRAY WATT: We're still working through the exact design and powers of a federal EPA, and we'll obviously finalise that in time for the introduction of the Bill. We've gone to federal elections, committing to create a federal Environmental Protection Agency, a strong watchdog at the federal level to make sure that environment laws are complied with. We remain committed to delivering that and that will be in the Bill, but we are still working through the design, the resourcing and the powers of the EPA, and I'll have more to say about that by the time we introduce the Bill.

JOURNALIST: On a specific project question, the WA EPA is currently considering whether it's going to review the CCS component of the Woodside Browse project, if the EPA decided to refuse that application, would you honour that federally?

MURRAY WATT: Look, I wouldn't want to get into individual project decisions that haven't yet been made. The general position I would put forward is that whenever I'm making a decision about approvals or assessments, I will always apply federal environmental law. But we'll need to wait and see where that project goes from here.

JOURNALIST: On BHPs recent bans, sorry, China's recent bans to BHP’s iron ore, was this a political or business move?

MURRAY WATT: All indications that we've seen is that this is simple commercial negotiations between two big parties. So you know, I'm sure that BHP are putting a lot of work into resolving those issues, but every indication we've seen is that these are commercial negotiations.

JOURNALIST: Your reaction to James Paterson's speech yesterday, he says the Liberal Party shouldn’t become Farage-lite. What do you make of those comments?

MURRAY WATT: Look, my take on James Paterson's speech is that we are now approaching nearly six months from the election where the Federal Opposition seem to only want to talk about themselves. The Albanese Government is focused on Australians, the Federal Coalition is focused on themselves. At some point, they've got to wake up to the fact that the Australian people are sick of hearing them talk about themselves and want to hear them talk about the Australian people. So it's just another continuation in this pathway.

I mean, I think from a Western Australian perspective it was a clear slap at the likes of Andrew Hastie, who are leading the charge in trying to drag the Coalition to a more extreme position. They've got to get over these sort of internal fights and start thinking about how we can meet Australians’ needs on cost of living, on housing, on environmental reform. So it's about time they started talking about Australians rather than about themselves.

JOURNALIST: Liberals are campaigning on increased crime rates across the country. Do you think the crime rate is concerning?

MURRAY WATT: Look, I mean it's obviously different figures in different states, but what I can see is that both at the national and state level, all governments are focusing on reducing crime as much as they possibly can. We recognise that Australians are concerned about crime rates, and we will continue working with the states to address them in every way we possibly can.

All good? Thanks everyone, thanks for coming.