Interview with Sally Sara, ABC Radio National Breakfast

SALLY SARA, HOST: The Federal Government’s planned overhaul of environmental laws will now be fast tracked with new legislation to be introduced to parliament by the end of the year. Environment Minister Murray Watt says there was clear support at last week’s Economic Reform Roundtable for simpler and faster processing of environmental approvals. The Environment Minister joins me now. Murray Watt, welcome back to Breakfast.

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: G’day, Sally. Good to be with you.

SALLY SARA: Minister, you say you have a strong focus on removing duplication on environmental approvals, which happens at both state and federal levels. Can you give assurances that what your proposing won’t water down the stronger Commonwealth standards?

MURRAY WATT: I can absolutely give that commitment, Sally. What we’re seeking to do here is deliver on the intent of Graeme Samuel’s recommendations from his review that was delivered nearly five years ago to Sussan Ley as the then Environment Minister. What Graeme found was that our current laws regarding the environment are broken, they’re not working for business, they’re not working for the environment, and that’s why we need reform. One of the things that we’re trying to do through these reforms that’s different to what the former government did was, if you like, deliver a package deal. That we do deliver the faster, more efficiency approvals that businesses are looking for and that Australians need to get the housing we need, to get the renewable energy we need, but at the same time deliver stronger environmental protections and, in fact, restore our environment. So, what I say to business groups and environment groups who I meet with is that you don’t get one without the other, it’s a package deal: stronger environmental protections as well as quicker, more efficient approvals. And I think we can get there.

SALLY SARA: How closely will you adhere to the recommendations and views of Graeme Samuel’s review?

MURRAY WATT: What I’ve said before, Sally, and this remains the case, is that we want to deliver these reforms in the spirit of Graeme Samuel’s review -

SALLY SARA: What does that mean?

MURRAY WATT: Well, I still think that even nearly five years on his recommendations ring true in terms of where we need to go with these reforms. And, as I say, what his reforms boil down to is three key pillars: firstly, stronger environmental protections, secondly, quicker and more efficient approvals and, thirdly, more transparency regarding decision-making on environmental regulation. He made a series of recommendations that essentially fall within those three pillars, and it’s my intent to deliver as many of them as we possibly can.

SALLY SARA: One of the key issues, Minister, of dispute between the business sector and the environment sector is whether the minister should be the final decision-maker on applications or an independent authority. Which way are you leaning on that?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, well, we’ve made very clear that we absolutely will be delivering a federal EPA for the first time in Australian history. That’s been a commitment we’ve taken to two elections in a row now. The exact powers and the exact remit of the EPA is an issue that we are still consulting with different stakeholders on, and it won’t surprise you to hear that there are different views there -

SALLY SARA: What’s your view?

MURRAY WATT: Well, I’m still consulting, Sally, so I guess once we’ve landed that position I’ll ensure that you and the rest of the world know. But there’s a small number of issues, including this one, where there are still some issues to work through with stakeholders. But I’ve now undertaken more than 40 different meetings, roundtables, forums with everyone from mining groups to business groups to environment groups to the states and territories. We’ll keep consulting until we land these reforms because I think we need to remember, you know, it’s one thing to say that Graeme’s report came down nearly five years ago, but it’s been nearly 20 years since there’s been any proper overhaul of these laws. They’re not working for business. They’re not working for environment. If we don’t fix these laws we won’t get the housing we need. We won’t get the renewables we need and we certainly will continue to see the environment suffer.

SALLY SARA: How much longer has that consultation process got to run on whether it will be the minister or the independent authority?

MURRAY WATT: Well, as we’ve announced today, Sally, we are bringing forward the introduction of this legislation by six months, and we will be introducing this legislation to the Parliament this side of Christmas. So I guess what that means is that we’ve got between now and the end of the year when the legislation is introduced to finalise consultation. But, look, I don’t think it would be surprising to see a bill this complex and this important continue to be refined once its introduced. There’ll obviously be the usual parliamentary processes like inquiries and things like that, and I’m happy to stay in touch with anyone who’s got a view on this right up until the moment it’s passed.

SALLY SARA: If the Greens back down on their demands for a climate trigger, would that open the door for renewed negotiations with the Greens, or is Coalition support in the Senate the only path that you want to pursue?

MURRAY WATT: No, look, I’ve made clear that we are open to seeking the support of either the Coalition or the Greens to get this bill through. I mean, in an ideal world, I’d love to see the entire Parliament vote for these reforms. And what we are seeing is a growing Coalition of support for reform across different interest groups, regardless of where they sit in the perspective. So I think it will be important for both the Coalition and the Greens to listen to that broad coalition of support for change. In terms of the climate trigger, I’ve pointed out to the Greens already, as I have to others, that if you look at what Graeme Samuel recommended, he explicitly ruled out a climate trigger in his report. What he said was companies when they’re seeking approvals for projects should disclose their scope 1 and 2 emissions and they should provide a plan for how they’re going to reduce their emissions. What he said, and I tend to agree with, is that the government has a whole range of other measures and legislation in place to reduce emissions. We’ve obviously got targets set by legislation. We’ve got the Safeguard Mechanism which our government strengthened and now requires big‑emitting projects to reduce their emissions by 5 per cent a year and become net zero by 2050. So, I guess what I’m saying is that if one of the aims of this legislation is to reduce duplication in the system, you’d really have to question why you would want to duplicate things that we’ve got in other legislation regarding climate.

SALLY SARA: You’re listening to Radio National Breakfast, and my guest is the Environment Minister Murray Watt. After last week’s Economic Reform Roundtable you and the Housing Minister Clare O’Neil announced a strike team to fast-track approvals for 26,000 new homes. Where can you make cuts in the approval process to speed things up?

MURRAY WATT: Well, the way I’m sort of approaching this, I guess, is in two steps, Sally. There’s things that we can do prior to passing this legislation. And, of course, there’s a much wider set of reforms that would flow from the legislation. What we can do in the meantime is better focus our resources within my Department to ensure that housing approvals are given priority. You would have seen that we are pulling every possible lever as a government to deliver more homes, whether that be investing more in social and affordable housing, the announcements the Treasurer and Minister O’Neil and the Prime Minister have made about pausing the construction code, about changing the rules for the 5 per cent deposit scheme for first home buyers. This is another measure that we’re taking within our existing resources to focus them on clearing that backlog of housing. But also what we announced over the weekend is that we want to make better use of an existing pathway under the EPBC legislation that allows for rapid assessment of projects. And the way that would work is that I intend to issue guidelines to my Department which allow for projects that have provided all of the required information upfront to be able to get an approval within as little as four months. One of the issues that we have at the moment sometimes is that whether it be land developers or mining companies or whoever it might be seeking an approval, don’t always provide the information that’s required to assess their project, they might not have provided information on koala habitat in an area, or what other sort of impacts there might be on threatened species. We want to incentivise companies to do the right thing and come to us with all of the information that’s required, and that will enable us to make a much faster assessment and approval.

SALLY SARA: On another issue, proponents of protecting the Murujuga Cultural Landscape are claiming a win after the decision by the Federal Court yesterday. Do you apologise for the unreasonable delays which were identified by the Federal Court?

MURRAY WATT: No, and I’d make the point, Sally, that the court did not issue the orders yesterday that the applicant was seeking, so I’m not sure how that could be interpreted as a win, but –

SALLY SARA: But it did identify those unreasonable delays.

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, look, the court did have some things to say about that. And, of course, that’s something that we need to work on. But in the three months that I’ve been in this role we have sped up this matter. And in the last few days we actually – the Department has issued a proposed decision on this matter to both the applicant in those court proceedings but also to a range of other groups who’ve got interests in this matter. So we’ve got that process underway to reach a decision, and I’d be hopeful we can get there pretty soon.

SALLY SARA: Murray Watt, thank you for your time.

MURRAY WATT: Thanks, Sally.