We don’t need more unaccountable bureaucrats.
The Labor party with the support of the Greens wants an Independent Statutory Authority to make decisions in regard to approving any project that could impact the environment.
This is dangerous as it will empower radical activists within the Federal bureaucracy to block any Infrastructure or business proposal. Our economy desperately needs more Infrastructure.
Furthermore our government needs more accountability, not less of it.
Senate on 4/02/2025
Item: MATTERS OF URGENCY – Nature Positive (Environment Protection Australia) Bill 2024
Senator RENNICK (Queensland) (16:17): The nature positive bill has nothing to do with protecting the environment. It is another step in government overreach, controlling people’s lives and our country. At the end of the day, this is just another extension by the Labor Party, taking control from the states of their constitutional responsibility to look after the environment. It is not the role of the federal government to look after the environment. That role was usurped by Bob Hawke in 1983 with the Franklin dam decision.
It is all very good talking about the environment, but the fact of the matter is that we do not want an independent statutory authority without any parliamentary oversight or ministerial oversight making decisions that aren’t accountable to the Australian people. That’s what this nature positive bill is all about. It’s all very well dressing it up and saying, ‘We want to protect the environment.’ We all want to protect the environment. But, at the end of the day, if you want to protect the environment you need to have proper levels of accountability. What this will do is take control of the environment from the federal environment minister—by the way, as I said before, they shouldn’t even have any control over the environment—and give it to independent statutory authorities. Just like we have seen with our monetary policy, just like we see with the ABC and just like we see with the TGA, we’re going to have another radical bureaucratic department created who can drive their own agenda without any form of feedback or transparency to the Australian people. So I strongly urge that this week all members of the Senate oppose any attempts at bringing in legislation that will undermine the democratic process of this country.
