Transcript: Doorstop Interview
Peter Garrett
posted Wednesday, 21 July 2010
E & O E – PROOF ONLY
Subjects: Action on climate change; mining in the Hunter Valley and Darling Downs; coal seam gas projects in Queensland and NSW; National Waste Policy; FluoroCycle; e-waste; Greens preferences; radioactive waste
JOURNALIST: Would you reconsider, given the CPRS deferral, reintroducing a greenhouse trigger into the EPBC Act? And also, can you tell us where you are up to with the replacement version of that act?
GARRETT: We made it clear when the interim recommendations from Mr Hawke’s review came through that we wouldn’t consider a greenhouse trigger. That remains the position. And we will have a response to the Hawke recommendations in full in due course. And that is the situation at this point in time.
JOURNALIST: Will that be as part of a release of a carbon policy?
GARRETT: Well, the question of a carbon policy is a matter that will be determined and released in the future. So you should await the details of that in time.
JOURNALIST: Does the surging green vote show that voters don’t believe that Labor is the best party to manage environmental issues?
GARRETT: I think our track record on environment issues is a very strong one and I really do encourage people to look into the detail of what it is that we have done over three years. Substantial reforms in natural resource management, a continuing commitment and a recognition that real action on climate change is necessary – something that Mr Abbott really does have absolutely no belief in at all – reforms in areas to do with National Waste Policy. Here is an area which is actually of huge importance to Australians – it consistently shows up in opinion polls as being something that Australians want leadership on and we are providing leadership in that area. And we are doing it in a model which brings great degrees of co-operation between both the state jurisdictions, industry, the community and non-government organisations as well.
JOURNALIST: But are you happy with the Government’s, you say there has been a commitment to real action on climate change, but there has been no actual real action. Are you happy with your Government’s approach to climate change so far?
GARRETT: Of course, and I would just make the point that we are still at the early stages of a campaign where additional policy announcements will be made, including those on climate change, in the future.
JOURNALIST: Minister, Bob Brown was promising yesterday to protect the farmers of the Hunter Valley and Darling Downs and elsewhere from further extensions to coal mining. Why shouldn’t the farmers in those regions be voting green rather than voting for Labor instead?
GARRETT: In relation to any matters that come through for national consideration to protect the environment, if they are matters that fall under the EPBC Act, if they are matters of national environmental significance, then we will ensure that they are appropriately and properly protected, identified and managed.
And I simply say to anybody, whether it is Senator Brown or communities in any part of Australia, that as far as the Commonwealth is concerned, under the responsibilities that we have in the national environment legislation, we will ensure that the environment is appropriately and adequately protected. Now, we have done that in relation to a number of decisions that we have made and that would be my expectation in the future.
JOURNALIST: Wasn’t your decision on coal seam gas recently though, that was a just a case of political expediency. You punted it off until after the election.
GARRETT: I think that Australians expect that the consideration of projects where there is potentially an impact on matters of national environmental significance should be done thoroughly, should be done comprehensively, and if there is any deficit of information, or if there are any issues that have been identified in assessment processes conducted by the states, that the Commonwealth will make absolutely sure, and the environment minister will make absolutely sure, that those issues are properly explored before a final decision is made. And it was on that basis that I made that decision.
Again, it is not uncommon for me, as Environment Minister, to seek additional information to satisfy myself that I best protect the environment in any decision I potentially may make. And it was on that basis that I made that decision in respect to the Gladstone proposals.
JOURNALIST: You couldn’t have created any greater uncertainty, though, could you, than to have put it after an election.
GARRETT: I disagree entirely with that proposition. We are actually about providing certainty for proponents. Every decision of a major scale size that an environment minister makes, including myself, is a decision where you are required to provide a statement of reasons and sufficient detail so that everybody who has an interest in that decision-making process can see how thoroughly it has been undertaken.
Now I have a track record in decision-making on a range of significant and important development proposals, in different states of the Commonwealth, where we need to absolutely make sure that we have done it in a thorough and in a comprehensive fashion, and provided the certainty that the decision-making process itself is robust. That is an expectation that business has. That is an expectation that the community has.
Unlike my predecessors who either made decisions too quickly and made mistakes or, half made decisions and didn’t fully contemplate all the matters that they were required to, I take this particular regulatory role very seriously and on that basis we made the decision in respect to Gladstone to delay a final decision until October.
JOURNALIST: Minister, you have been more ambitious than most in terms of trying to achieve an environmental transformation in Australia. You have borne the bruises more than most of trying to achieve that. Why do you think the task of environmental transformation is so difficult?
GARRETT: I actually think that there is a community willingness in many areas for participation in good environmental reform and delivery of environmental programs. If you look at what we have done particularly in respect say, for example, of Indigenous rangers, and Indigenous communities, the provision of resources for the creation of Indigenous-protected areas where young Aboriginal people get the opportunity not only to have a connection with their country, but also to develop skills and techniques to enable them to better manage country, and also to better and more effectively interact with institutions, councils, governments, park agencies and businesses around them. That has been a highly successful program. It has required a lot of co-operation on the part of land managers, both private land managers and state land managers. And I think it is one of the great success stories of the first term of this government.
JOURNALIST: Is it true that there was nothing on the table, there was no deal on the preferences between the Greens and the Labor Party? Who does a deal without offering anything?
GARRETT: All those matters are matters for the national organisations. I can’t add anything to them than is already.
JOURNALIST: What is happening in your seat?
GARRETT: We will contest the election campaign with two candidates, possibly more, as we have done over the last two terms. And I look forward to that engagement.
JOURNALIST: Bob Brown says he is unhappy with the deal being struck. How do you feel about it?
GARRETT: Senator Brown is making his views about preferences deals public. Commentators will comment about it. I am here to be very clear about the fact that we have made a great announcement today about a FluoroCycle scheme and I think it is one that will be welcomed by the public.
JOURNALIST: Minister, you talked about the survey work that you have done to kick off the computer and TV recycling scheme. Do you think the Office of Best Practice Regulation is an impediment to getting these sorts of things up and running quickly? Do you want to see some reforms to the sort of RIS development process?
GARRETT: I think the fact that we were able to bring choice modelling into the process was an important and pretty substantial step and I am pleased that we are able to get a RIS underway which takes that into account. That hadn’t happened before and the fact that it has happened now is a positive and now we await to see how the RIS unfolds.
JOURNALIST: What part are you playing in the Labor Party in the formulation of the climate change policy?
GARRETT: I am not going to spend any time deliberating on what we do or don’t do behind closed doors. Clearly, Minister Wong has responsibility for those areas. She will bring forward, with the Prime Minister, in due course, what the climate change policy announcements of this election will be.
JOURNALIST: Would you admit that climate change is the big ticket environmental issue for this election?
GARRETT: Climate change is important – of that there is no doubt. What is scandalous about the Coalition is that not only does Mr Abbott think that climate change is “crap”, but in the last 48 hours he has also announced that the Coalition’s position is to never have a price on carbon. And we also see today that they are proposing to reduce funding for climate change initiatives that have been undertake by this Government. I mean that is three strikes and you are out on willingness to take climate change seriously at all from Mr Abbott.
Their record and their commitments in this election campaign on climate change are clear evidence that they have no conviction or capacity to address the issue at all. We will address the issue and those announcements will be made in due course.
JOURNALIST: Is it true though that the Climate Change Institute, or the Carbon Storage Institute, has failed to garner any international support whatsoever? So why are we spending money on it?
GARRETT: Well, as with other innovative technologies to deal with both sequestration of CO2 and to reduce emissions generally, they are worth putting some investment and some effort into. You need a suite of measures to deal with this issue in the medium and longer term. That was one which was well worth examining and working on.
JOURNALIST: Max, from WME media, I just wanted to ask you in terms of today’s National Waste Policy, you mentioned that the e-waste bill will be passed in 2011. What about the other areas – tyres, sustainable packaging options and biohazard?
GARRETT: Yes look we have identified a range of issues that will be undertaken and addressed in order. Our first task is e-waste. That is the one which we’ve identified as necessary for immediate action…
JOURNALIST: So that is your priority?
GARRETT: And that is the priority. But this workshop today will bring forward both some good suggestions and policy suggestions particularly for us to consider. And we will work through the remainder of those issues as identified in the plan. But the priority for us is e-waste and I am pleased that today you can hear how strong that priority is.
JOURNALIST: You didn’t mention radioactive waste today. What is your view on the proposal for a radioactive dump near Tennant Creek?
GARRETT: Look the Government has made its position on the radioactive dump clear. Minister Ferguson has already made a series of statements in relation to that.
What I would say about National Waste Policy generally is that we haven’t had a National Waste Policy of this kind ever. And yet if you look at the volumes of waste that are coming into the waste stream, particularly when we get to the period of the digital switchover and some of the statistics that I addressed in my speech today show clearly, that unless we did take some real action on this issue, Australians would be facing an increasing pile of televisions, computers going into landfill.
The public doesn’t want that, the industry doesn’t want that and the Government doesn’t want it either. And the National Waste Policy is in place to address it.
Tags: change, climate, coal, Darling, Garrett, Hunter