Gillard's 'green tape' propaganda
Lauren Caulfied
Responding to the threat of important federal environmental assessment and approval powers being handed over to state governments, the environment movement last year mounted a swift campaign to bring this to public attention and to derail Prime Minister Gillard's attempt to sneak the change through as part of closed-door COAG discussions in December.
The wave of scrutiny and community pressure saw Gillard suddenly remove the proposal from the COAG agenda. On the morning that the Business Advisory Forum opened in Canberra, it was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald that Gillard had removed the proposed transfer of Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act (EPBC) powers from the COAG meeting agenda. The decision was described as a "major blow to business ... and a victory for green groups that have complained about a watering down of standards".
The Herald reported that business leaders would be briefed directly by the Prime Minister about the decision at the pre-COAG Business Advisory Forum, but outside the private and exclusive briefing given to the Business Council, the Prime Minister gave no details on the change to the public, and made no comment in media coverage. It remains uncertain whether the proposal will come off the table for good or whether it will be revived when the political heat dies down.
The decision to defer plans to transfer EPBC Act powers marks an important interim campaign win, and a vital temporary reprieve from the terrifying prospect of state governments being placed in charge of issuing approvals for environmentally damaging projects – a prospect not unlike placing Dracula in charge of the blood bank.
The spate of campaign pressure to date, including Friends of the Earth's 'Nature: Not Negotiable' campaign, saw rapid community action around the country against the proposed weakening of federal environment laws and in defence of Australia's iconic wild places and wildlife. It saw open letters from prominent environmental lawyers and legal academics around the nation calling on Gillard not to eviscerate the cornerstone legislation designed to protect our environment, a flood of thousands of emails and letters in to the Prime Minister's office, direct lobbying of the companies pushing for the weakening of federal environment laws via the Business Council, public meetings around the country where people heard from activists and lawyers, and a convergence of community and environment groups in Canberra for the opening of COAG and the meeting of the Business Advisory Forum.
Powerful opposition to the moves came from logging-affected communities around Australia. No stranger to the impacts of bilateral arrangements that place state governments in charge of managing nationally significant ecosystems, these communities have witnessed first-hand the ongoing loss of forests to a rapacious logging industry, and the widespread decline in threatened species and biodiversity that accompanied the 20-year Regional Forest Agreements between the federal and state governments − Agreements that put the states in charge of managing forests and exempted logging operations from the EPBC Act.
What this experience demonstrated is that the states, with their short-sighted approach to environmental management, cannot be trusted with our irreplaceable wild places.
To understand the impetus behind these moves to weaken federal environment protection, one need look no further than their inception. The brainchild of the Business Council of Australia (BCA) – a forum of Australia's top 100 corporations – this proposal to attack our federal environment laws was hatched to cut so-called 'green tape', and enable big business to obtain swift approvals for environmentally damaging developments, without getting 'bogged down' by state and Commonwealth approvals processes. The BCA meets just prior to COAG, and is the only group to have a direct line of communication with COAG via the Business Advisory Forum.
It is unsurprising that, given the choice, big business with an eye to environmentally damaging enterprise would prefer to deal with the states – witness WA Premier Colin Barnett's approval for a gas hub at Broome's Walmadan / James Price Point, Qld Premier Campbell Newman's sweeping support for the expansion of the coal industry in Queensland and the reopening of native forest logging, and the Victorian State Government's bid to let cattle back into Alpine National Parks. Without federal intervention the Franklin River would be dammed and the Great Barrier Reef would host a number of oil rigs. Federal oversight of environmental planning may not be fail-safe, but putting the states in charge would be an unmitigated disaster.
The State of the Environment Report 2011 paints a grim picture of the predicament facing Australia's environment and wildlife. More and more endangered species are moving closer to extinction, and we are losing our precious places. If approved, the devolution of EPBC Act powers to state governments would see our environment and wildlife under unprecedented threat from big business seeking access to many of our precious wild places.
If the 'one stop shop' environmental assessment and approvals process that both the BCA and Gillard claim they are aiming for is to be developed, it is only fitting that this be streamlined via the Commonwealth government, given its essential role in overseeing matters of national significance. To achieve this, federal and EPBC Act powers must be strengthened, not weakened for the convenience of big business or farmed out to the states via bilateral agreements, in order to enable adequate environmental protection and provide a rigorous and consistent system for environmental assessment that avoids the pitfalls of state mismanagement.
What happens now?
The next COAG meeting will be held this April. While the agenda is likely to be dominated by education, the overhanging matter of environmental approvals remains up in the air, and the campaign to keep our wild places out of state government hands builds again.
Having Gillard take the transfer of environmental powers off the table when COAG met last year is a fantastic interim win, and testament to a swift and clear campaign. Now the Prime Minister must take this proposal off the table for good, and publicly explain what is planned for the future of Australia's federal environment laws.
To stay in touch with the campaign, and receive updates about what's happening with our federal environment laws please visit
- www.archive.foe.org.au/nature-not-negotiable
- find us at Nature: Not Negotiable on Facebook
- follow us on Twitter @NatureNotNeg
Between now and the COAG meeting, please call or write to Prime Minister Gillard and let her know that you haven't forgotten about the plans to dramatically weaken federal environment protection powers, and that you'd like to know her plans for Commonwealth environment laws.
Online contact: www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm
Parliament Office:
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600
Telephone: (02) 6277 7700
Fax: (02) 6273 4100
Lauren Caulfield is Friends of the Earth's 'Nature: Not Negotiable' campaign spokesperson.