Environment minister Albert Jacob’s controversial biodiversity bill could do more harm to native animals and environments than good, according to environmental organisations.
The bill, which is expected to be debated at the next sitting of the Legislative Council in August, includes a so-called “God clause” which would allow the Minister to potentially approve actions that could result in the extinction of native animals.
Sections of the bill have also been labelled as a “one-stop-shop” of environmental powers granted to the minister, including the removal of limits placed on development approvals.
Mr Jacob has also been accused of making little to no consultation with conservation groups or landholders in the drafting of the legislation.
Mandurah residents should be deeply concerned over the bill, according to WA Greens Member of the Legislative Council Lynn Maclaren, who said it did not increase certainty of the protection of natural environments.
Any legislation which grants more certainty to developers gives more uncertainty to conservation groups, and Mandurah should be worried about that,” she said.
“Things like the Environment Department’s Strategic Planning Assessment and the Biodiversity Bill grant no certainty over the protection of native animals, and that includes waterbirds, fish and other marine species in Mandurah.
“This Bill can’t be supported in its current state; we will work constructively to try to improve it during debate in the Legislative Council.
“Despite the Bill containing some of the language of modern biodiversity legislation, the finer detail reveals too little protection for threatened species, habitats and ecological communities and too much unfettered power for the Minister.”
Shadow Environment Minister Chris Tallentire said Labor’s opposition to the bill was a “tragedy” and a “deep disappointment”, but necessary since the Liberal government had not honoured a commitment to hear Labor’s potential amendments.
“It is a great disappointment because our current Wildlife Conservation Act is seriously out of date,” Mr Tallentire said.
“It does need revision. It is not serving us well. The opportunity we are missing here is enormous.”
The Minister called Labor “irresponsible and short-sighted” in their decision to oppose the bill, and said they were doing nothing but playing politics.
"When the moment arrived for the Australian Labor Party in Western Australia to do something that it has always aspired to do, to support a biodiversity conservation Bill, it voted against it,” he said.
"The existing law under the Wildlife Conservation Act has no capacity to deliver modern environmental management. The Labor Party's lack of support for this new Bill shows how little it understands the complexities of biodiversity conservation.”
The tabling of the Biodiversity Bill has drawn a line between environmental and conservation groups and mining and energy interests, with the Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) announcing their support for Mr Jacob and congratulating him on giving the community “further confidence in the delegation of commonwealth environmental approvals through the States and Territories”.
“The new legislation significantly strengthens penalties for harming native species, but also provides the opportunity for more streamlined biodiversity conservation approvals,” CME chief Nicole Roocke said.
“CME is urging elected Federal Senators to re-engage on progressing towards a ‘one-stop-shop’ environmental approvals approach.”
Environmental groups including the Conservation Council of Western Australia (CCWA), The Wilderness Society of WA, the World Wildlife Fund, the Environmental Defender’s Office, WA Forest Alliance and The Leeuwin Group of Scientists have all called on the Minister to not pass the legislation in its current form.
“Rather than working with the community and Parliament to deliver strong new wildlife conservation laws as promised, Minister Jacob has shown that political point-scoring is higher on his agenda than protection of our unique wildlife,” CCWA director Piers Verstegen said.
“Minister Jacob failed to consult the community, conservation sector and scientists on his legislation and as a result he has produced a bill that is fundamentally flawed.
"Now he has criticised experts and community groups in Parliament and issued petulant media statements attacking the Opposition for doing its job.
“The Labor Party has done the right thing by putting forward constructive amendments which would improve the bill, however the Minister has chosen to ignore these amendments and persist with his inadequate and potentially dangerous legislation.”
