Last week there was a surprise when Tanya Plibersek was announced as Australia’s new Minister for the Environment and Water. The portfolio, which had been occupied by the opposition Terri Butler before she lost her seat, includes a long list of unresolved challenges.
Here are five that Plibersek will face as he achieves his new role.
Fix environmental laws
Not many things are universally accepted in Australian public life, but there is great agreement that national environmental laws do not protect the country’s unique natural heritage.
An official review of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) by Graeme Samuel, the former head of consumer surveillance, found that the laws were flawed and that the environment was in unsustainable decline. The Auditor General has twice reached similar conclusions.
The framework of the law, which leaves decisions on what is described as the minimum level of protection almost entirely to the then Minister of the Environment, was questionable when the legislation was introduced in 1999 and makes less sense in 2022. Australia is the world leader in mammal extinction, and the number of endangered species has grown significantly while the law has been in place.
The new minister does not lack advice on what to use when deciding how to respond. First, there are 38 recommendations from Samuel that the previous government did not respond to, including the introduction of national environmental standards against which important developments are to be assessed.
Labor went to the polls with a minimum position on the EPBC Act, promising only to respond in full to Samuel’s revision. This answer will be the best early indication of Plibersek’s plans.
It will be measured along with the findings of the five-year state of the environment report, an important nationwide nature assessment. The Coalition sat down on the report before the election, refusing to publish it despite receiving it in December. Releasing him should be one of Plibersek’s first actions as a minister.
Forest destruction and the crisis of extinction
The recent list of the koala as endangered is a prime example of the combined impact of forest destruction and wildfires on Australia’s native wildlife. Photography: Lukas Coch / AAP
Former environment ministers have often talked about the need to strike the right balance between protecting the environment and enabling sustainable development, but the evidence shows that governments have seldom made nature a priority.
Changing this would require having a national vision on land clearing and working with states, which have the greatest responsibility for approving agricultural and urban expansion and native logging, to reduce the impact. The recent list of the koala as endangered is just one notable example of the combined impact of forest destruction and wildfires on Australia’s native wildlife.
There are several steps that Plibersek could take quickly. They include revoking the decision of its predecessor, Sussan Ley, to abolish recovery plans for 176 endangered species and habitats, restore lost funding and the cultural status of the environment department and its programs after years of devaluation. , and deal with the threat posed by the invaders. spices.
Scientists and environmental groups estimate that between $ 1.5 billion and $ 2 billion a year, a relatively small commitment to the global budget, could help restore endangered wildlife. For some of the most endangered animals, the extra conservation work required would not be much.
Given the climate crisis
The approval of the coal and gas mines will almost certainly receive renewed attention in this legislature. Photo: David Gray / Reuters
Climate change policy is not the responsibility of Plibersek, but of Chris Bowen, but there is an urgent challenge to help species and ecosystems cope with the changes they are already experiencing.
As for development approvals, there is no climate test, no “greenhouse activator,” in the EPBC Act. It means the minister should not consider the contribution that coal or gas development will make to increasing global warming before approving it.
This became a focus last year when, in a landmark ruling, the federal court found that the minister had a duty under common law care to protect young people from future damage from the climate crisis when considered a proposal to expand the coal mine.
The verdict was short-lived – Law appealed and overturned by the full court – but scientists, lawyers and activists said it revealed a hole in the national environmental architecture.
The approval of the coal and gas mines will almost certainly receive renewed attention in this legislature, as the Greens will maintain the balance of power in the Senate and have made stopping new coal and gas developments their top priority.
Questions for Plibersek will include whether he will approve the fossil fuel projects on his desk, how he will justify them if he does, including his Sydney constituency in the city center, and whether any changes to the law will be significant if not they do. include a test of a development’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Creating an EPA
In one of its last commitments before election day, Labor pledged to establish an independent environmental protection agency to enforce national conservation laws and collect data on wildlife health.
Plibersek will have the job of figuring out how the new agency will work.
The idea is not new. Conservative groups have long called for an independent regulator, lawyers have submitted a model proposal, and Labor pledged before the 2019 election to create an EPA that “ensures that we are no longer the capital of extinction. and will ensure when projects need it. ” they get one answer ”.
His commitment this time is based on Samuel’s recommendation to set up an office with independent oversight of compliance and to appoint a “custodian” to address major information and monitoring gaps.
One of the first questions for Plibersek will be whether an EPA will be independent in name only or created as a statutory autonomous authority protected by law. There will also be questions about funding and the scope of their competencies.
For now, the default policy is to approve environmentally compensated projects, meaning developers must compensate for the habitat destruction they cause.
In practice, the compensations have been poorly controlled. A Guardian Australia investigation found several cases where compensation was never implemented or carried out on land that was already protected.
It would be reasonable to expect an EPA to have the power to address this. A key related issue is whether it will be asked to consider whether the heavy reliance on compensation is providing what the country needs or, as the Auditor General found, its management is worsening the plight of endangered species.
The Great Barrier Reef
The world will see if the new government, as the custodian of the reef, can stand up for its future in international forums. Photo: J Sumerling / AP
The Albanian government will have to show that it has a plan to protect Australia’s “iconic” natural sites, including the Great Barrier Reef.
The Coalition has taken an aggressive approach to preventing the United Nations from putting the reef on its “endangered” world heritage list. Labor has said it will continue Australia’s stance on the move. What this means in practice could become clear in the coming weeks.
Australia is no longer part of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee that makes the decision, so it has lost some of its strength.
By the end of this month, Unesco is expected to publish a report on a UN monitoring mission to the reef, which took place in March. The mission was carried out during the fourth massive bleaching of coral reef in seven years. Your report will not make recommendations on the condition of the reef, but will assess your health and the measures put in place to protect it.
One question for the Albanian government is whether it will agree that Australia’s climate policies should be considered when the World Heritage Committee makes a decision on any future “endangered” recommendations.
Unesco will draft recommendations to the World Heritage Committee of the reef before the next meeting, a date has not yet been set.
The reef is one of the most recognizable natural wonders in Australia, known around the world. The world will watch to see if the new government, as the custodian of the reef, can stand up for its future in international forums.