SYDNEY, 2 SEPTEMBER – Responding to reports in the West Australian this morning that the Prime Minister is poised to seriously weaken the role of the proposed national Environmental Protection Australian (EPA) and to delay broader nature law reform until next term, the following quotes can be attributed to Glenn Walker, Head of Nature, Greenpeace Australia Pacific:
“Australia’s environment is in serious decline; we have one of the worst rates of deforestation in the world, and we are sending our wildlife extinct, including even the koala. The Albanese Government promised to end the extinction crisis and deliver a strong new nature law this term, but the backdown floated this morning would be a significant misstep.
“We are deeply alarmed by reports today that Prime Minister Albanese is considering caving in to billionaire miners and greedy developers railing against environmental protection.
“Capitulating to vested interests by weakening the EPA and pushing off further critical law reform until next term would betray the promise to fix Australia’s broken nature law. The outcome would be more forest and habitat destruction, more wildlife killed, and a diminished natural environment for all Australians.
“We urge the Albanese Government to demonstrate leadership by standing up to vested interests and by following through on their promise to deliver strong nature law reform this term, including an independent EPA with decision-making powers.”
—ENDS—
Notes to editor:
Freedom of Information documents recently obtained by Greenpeace revealed mining giants Hancock Prospecting and Rio Tinto were behind a major push to weaken and delay fixes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
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