Watt happens. A Labor deal with Coalition or Greens on environment?

Environment Minister Murray Watt wants Parliament to change our environmental laws but for a key component to be left to him and his Department to sort out at a later date. Former Senator Rex Patrick Reports on EPBC reform.

“Trust me, I am from the government.”

It appears that Environment Minister Senator Murray Watt wants to push Federal Labor’s environmental reforms through Parliament, hiding a key element of National Environment standards from view.

The Senate should properly reject this approach.

Samuel Review

On 29 October 2019, then Environment Minister and now opposition leader Sussan Ley commissioned an Independent Review of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act by Professor Graeme Samuel.

A year later, after receiving 30,142 submissions from individuals and organizations and directly consulting with more than 100 stakeholders, Samuel circulated his comprehensive report.

His basic message was:

Australia’s natural environment and iconic landmarks are generally in a state of decline and are increasingly under threat. The environment is not sufficiently resilient to existing, emerging or future threats, including climate change. The environmental trajectory is currently unsustainable.

He continued:

To avoid the fundamental reforms recommended in this Review would mean accepting the gradual decline of our iconic places and the extinction of our most threatened plants, animals and ecosystems. This is unacceptable. A firm commitment to change is needed from all stakeholders to ensure future generations enjoy and benefit from Australia’s unique environment and heritage.

National Environmental Standards were recommended as the centerpiece of the report. The standards would be the ruler by which the government would measure national environmental decision-making and oversight.

Finding the “sweet spot”

After the report was circulated, Sussan Ley, agreeing to the Coalition joint party room, weakened the standards, finding a so-called “hotspot” between environmental protection and economic development.

I was one of the balance of power senators who stood in the way of changing reforms because the standards were not met.

Murray Watt watched the whole thing from the Opposition benches in the Senate.

Watt knows Labor needs to find the “sweet spot”. The very low standards on which coalition support can be found will leave Labour’s left-wing support base disgruntled. High standards would please the left of the party and win the support of the Greens.

But given Labour’s track record of project approvals, Watt won’t come close to what it takes to tickle the fancy of the Greens’ environment leader, Senator Hanson-Young.

More gas. Labor passes twenty fossil fuel approvals

Herein lies the reason why National Environmental Standards are not on the table. This is a lot of political hot potato.

In his view, it would be best if the Standards were a legislative instrument to be promulgated and tabled at a later date.

Backroom changes

Watt is a minister and lawyer. We can only hope he’s read the Constitution.

You don’t even need to read it from start to finish. The first chapter makes it clear that:The Commonwealth’s legislative power will be vested in the Federal Parliament‘. In other words, elected members and senators will make laws in the presence of those to whom they owe a duty and are directly responsible.

Making laws behind the scenes is not the job of faceless bureaucrats in the executive branch who are unknown to the public. This situation constitutes a fundamental violation of the principle of separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.

National Environmental Standards should be a program of the Act debated and passed in the House and Senate Chamber. But this is very difficult. It turns out that politics doesn’t have to be so constitutional.

Another issue with the statutory instruments approach is that a future government could change the National Environmental Standards relatively easily. While new standards may be unacceptable, impermissible situations are rare and do not attract as much political attention as a bill passing Parliament.

Political predictions

Politics can be hard to predict, but there it is.

The main foundation of the Greens was environmentalism. While the party’s platform has evolved beyond this issue over the past 30 years, the Senate team will be aware of its roots.

The Greens are expected to play hard ball. Any admission by Labor that is not consistent with its net zero targets and environmental plans will be seen as a betrayal of their policy principles. It may be good policy to move away from a position that does not conform to the expectations of one’s support base; Allowing the government to strike a deal with a big business flavor could be used to lure disgruntled Labor voters into the Green camp at the next election.

The coalition’s support base will then expect him to use his leverage to reach a compromise position with Labor. Again, Labour’s performance on coal and gas approvals since coming to government suggests that a center rights solution would be a good outcome.

Watt has his work cut out for him. He will talk to both sides, keep his cards close to his chest, and play one against the other.

The Minister will also meet with the States and Territories; Prime Minister Roger Cook’s Labor Government, particularly in energy- and mineral-rich Western Australia, is certain to direct the interests of the corporate giants who dominate that state’s colonial resource-extraction economy.

Labour/Coalition deal or Labour/Greens deal?

It will be interesting to watch the swinging.

But I’m betting on a Labour/Coalition deal rather than a Labour/Greens deal.

It will likely be backed by both the WA Labor Government and the Queensland LNP Governments with specific promises to the Coalition on National Environmental Standards to be followed at a later date to soften any disappointment.

In 1992, the year the Greens formed a Federal party, Bill Clinton’s strategy advisor, James Carville, coined the phrase “This is the stupidity of economics.” It looks like 29-year-old yet-to-be-elected Anthony Albanese has taken notice.

It’s a balancing act. Political strife begins this week. If the government cannot reach a deal with either the Coalition or the Greens, the bill is likely to go to committee, where it is likely to be scrapped.