The ministerial override power at the centre of Labor’s proposed reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act would not merely give politicians a completely unfettered power to ignore environmental laws in the name of the “national interest”, but enable them to do so in total secrecy.
Watt tried to downplay the national interest override power in his address, describing it as “a specific power, in rare circumstances that are in the national interest, for the minister to make a decision that is inconsistent with the National Environmental Standards. Such a decision would be accompanied by a statement of reasons, which includes the environmental implications of the decision. To demonstrate the rare nature of these decisions, the bill refers to defence, security and national emergencies as the types of situations this power might be used.” But the actual text of the bill demonstrates no such thing, beyond Watt’s casuistry in suggesting that the override power could only be rarely used. New section 157 of the reformed act would enable project proponents to write to the minister for the environment asking for a national interest exemption — correspondence that will rapidly become pro forma for every major project — that would enable the project to be approved even if it comprehensively breaches the environmental safeguards of the act. The minister must respond to such requests within 20 working days.
Better yet, the “statement of reasons” that Watt claims will accompany a decision that waves through a damaging project can be kept secret. After awarding a project national interest status, the decision must be published “together with the minister’s reasons for granting the exemption on the department’s website”. Except, the minister must not publish anything that’s a trade secret, business documents “to which access would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest” or anything “the minister believes it is in Australia’s national interest not to provide”.