Press conference, Perth

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Today is a big step forward to deliver the homes, energy and critical minerals projects Western Australia needs to protect its incredible natural environment. Today the Albanese and Cook Governments have signed a memorandum of understanding to enter a bilateral agreement for the assessment of projects under the Federal EPBC Act, and to enter that agreement by the end of this year.

This MoU represents a genuine commitment from both governments to better protect our precious environment and to power productivity here in Western Australia by speeding up project approvals and assessments. We've worked closely together on this for several months now, since the passing of our historic reforms to the EPBC Act by the Federal Parliament late last year.

And I really want to thank Premier Roger Cook and his whole team for the work that he, his Cabinet, his Caucus and his officials in his departments have put in, along of course with the various officials involved at the federal level. I have to say, Western Australia has been the most enthusiastic state across the country when it comes to reaching a bilateral agreement with us.

And I have to say, coming from Queensland, it would be nice to see every state government have a similar level of enthusiasm. The development of a bilateral agreement presents a significant opportunity to reduce duplication between jurisdictions; improve regulatory efficiency; and support more timely decision making while maintaining strong environmental outcomes.

And put simply, entering a bilateral agreement will mean that we remove one layer of duplication in the current process, with the Western Australian Government taking on the role of assessing projects against both state and federal environmental laws, rather than requiring separate assessments by both levels of government under both pieces of legislation. The MoU outlines the shared intent of our governments to work towards the development of this bilateral agreement, including agreements to share information, ensure stakeholder and community confidence in these agreements, and to collaborate on the delivery of offsets going forward.

As I say, the bilateral agreement will be developed to meet the requirements set out in the reformed EPBC Act, which will be in full effect by December this year at the latest. Those requirements under the reforms include new national environmental standards, which will be finalised from the middle of this year, to provide clarity to all interested parties. So again, this is a very big step forward for the Western Australian community as a whole, for the business community to develop the projects they want to develop, and of course, for protecting Western Australia's incredible environment.

And again, I can't thank Premier Cook and his team enough for where we've got to so far. Thank you, Premier. ROGER COOK, PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Thanks, Minister.

Look, it's great to be here with Murray Watt for an important day for Western Australia. My Government's vision is to ensure that Western Australia's economy remains the strongest in the nation. To support that vision, our state requires an assessment system that works to protect and restores our environment, while continuing to progress economic development.

We've already reformed our state's environmental processes to cut duplication, to lift certainty, to get decisions made faster without compromising environmental outcomes. And we are very pleased to announce that my Government has entered into negotiations for a new environmental assessment bilateral agreement between the WA Government and the Commonwealth Government.

This is a significant step forward for Western Australia. We know that the dual assessment process can increase costs and uncertainty for businesses that our states need to diversify our economy. Attempts have been made over many years to reduce state and Commonwealth duplication, and today, you're seeing an important next step as part of that goal.

I am, however, confident that there's never been a greater opportunity than there is now to deliver a bilateral agreement that works for WA. That milestone represents a genuine effort by the Commonwealth Government to use environmental law reform to fast-track environmental approvals from WA, which remains the engine room of the national economy. I want to thank Minister Watt for his willingness to work with WA to get to where we are today.

The collaboration between the Commonwealth and the state government has never been more important, particularly in the time of a critical juncture for the Western Australian economy as we look to move to a renewable energy future, diversify our economy, and make more things here. We will now continue working with the Commonwealth as well as traditional owners, industry, and the community stakeholders to ensure this agreement continues to support the government's priorities – the priorities to get projects delivered faster while continuing to protect our pristine environment.

And while there's significant amount of work to do to deliver on this agreement, I'm confident that we can reach an agreement which works for Western Australia. Over to you, Minister, for questions. MURRAY WATT: Thanks, Premier.

So we thought we might take questions on this and then move to other issues of the day if that's okay. JOURNALIST: Is there a value on the projects that you're talking about a bilateral agreement with? I mean, is there a cost of a project that would bring this into play or?

MURRAY WATT: Well I mean, a bilateral agreement would enable that simplified assessment, and eventually approval of a project of any dollar value. But of course, here in Western Australia, we know that there are very big projects worth billions of dollars. And this agreement means that we will be able to work through the environmental assessments and approvals required for those projects much more quickly than we have been able to do in the past.

So that represents a cost saving for those companies, a big injection of funds to the Western Australian and national economy, if we can bring those projects online more quickly while, of course, making sure that we are protecting the environment at the same time. JOURNALIST: If WA is so enthusiastic about this, why are we less advanced than other states like South Australia?

MURRAY WATT: Well, you're probably talking about the fact that under the previous or the existing EPBC Act, prior to the reforms last year, it has been possible to reach these sorts of bilateral agreements, and that has occurred in a number of states. My understanding is that there was, previously, a bilateral agreement between the Commonwealth and Western Australia that was signed in 2014.

But changes that were made to Western Australian environmental legislation in 2016 had the effect of making that agreement no longer operate. So, what we're trying to do is to revive that spirit of collaboration, make use of the new reforms, and as I say, simplify and speed up decisions around projects while also protecting the environment. JOURNALIST: You made the comment that WA has been the most enthusiastic and you’d like other states to come on board.

What has, kind of, the perception been so far to expect other states to follow suit quickly and how many so far? Is the one in New South Wales the same as this? MURRAY WATT: Yeah.

So just to clear this up, as I say, it has been possible to reach bilateral agreements under the existing EPBC Act. What this agreement will be is under the reformed EPBC Act with all of those benefits towards speeding up approvals and protecting the environment that were contained in the reform. Not every state has an existing bilateral agreement, including Western Australia.

The most successful bilateral agreement we have in place at the moment is with New South Wales. And under that bilateral agreement, around 50 per cent of projects in New South Wales that require a federal environmental assessment are done by New South Wales under that bilateral agreement. So, the way it works is that the New South Wales Government does the assessment against its own laws and against the Commonwealth laws at the same time, rather than them doing their bit and then us doing our bit.

So, 50 per cent of projects already are done that way in New South Wales. We have begun discussions with them about entering a new bilateral, like what we're doing here in Western Australia. But WA, as you often see, is first out of the gate, and congratulations to them on that.

JOURNALIST: Are you hoping that a similar proportion of WA projects will go through that process? Are you hoping for more? MURRAY WATT: Yeah.

Look, it's impossible to say exactly how many projects in any state would go through this process, but we want to see as many as possible take advantage of these reforms. You all know that those reforms were hard won. It had been 25 years before the federal environmental law had been properly overhauled, and there was a very intense period of six months work that took place after the last federal election.

I think I was over here in WA about six or seven times in that period trying to build that support for these reforms, and we managed to get them through. So having done that, we obviously want to make sure that we can deliver as many of those projects through this simplified system as we possibly can. JOURNALIST: Can the agreement come into place before the National Environmental Standards are put in place, or it has to wait?

MURRAY WATT: No. So the issue is that the bilateral agreement can't be formally reached until we have the new National Environmental Standards finalised, because that agreement will be based on those standards. But we're making very good progress with those standards.

We've already released two of them for public consultation, with another couple to come. I expect to be releasing a couple more this month for further consultation. But what we are doing is not sitting back and waiting for those standards to be finished.

We’re getting on with the job of negotiating this agreement while we’re also finalising those standards, because we want to get this stuff moving as quickly as possible. JOURNALIST: The Chamber of Minerals and Energy here isn’t very happy with the state of some of those standards as they stand. I mean, how much ground are you willing to give between now and when they’re finalised?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, look, I’ve seen the comments from the CME, and I’ll be catching up with them and other groups while I’m here in Perth over the next couple of days. I will make the point that just as you saw when we were passing the legislation that you had business groups and environment groups say that they weren’t getting everything they wanted. Similarly here when it comes to the standards – it’s not surprising to hear business groups and environment groups saying that they don’t get everything that they wanted.

You would’ve heard me say many times in the run-up to passing those laws that no one was going to get everything they wanted. That’s just not how things work in a parliamentary process. But we do want to make sure that the standards that we develop work for business and work for the environment as much as is humanly possible.

JOURNALIST: A lot of conservation groups like having the two, you know, the state and Commonwealth methods of assessment as, I guess, another layer of checks and balances. What do you say to that, and how can you actually- how confident are you that there won’t be things that fall through the gaps? MURRAY WATT: Yeah, look, I understand that concern.

But what I’d say to begin with is that the current system, which has allowed these duplicated assessment and approvals processes, hasn’t worked either for business or the environment. The reality is, we are seeing nature in this country and around the world under enormous pressure, and that’s under the current system that we’ve got. And at the same time, it’s slowing down the provision of housing, renewable energy, critical minerals projects that the country desperately needs, so it’s not as if the current system is working.

In terms of where we go from here, there are safeguards in place under the reforms that we passed. The bilateral agreement will need to be considered by the Senate. It’s what’s called a disallowable instrument.

So if the Senate thinks that we got it badly wrong, there’s an opportunity for the Senate to stop that agreement going through. I’m confident that won’t happen, but there is that safeguard there. But secondly, any agreement that we reach with any state in this way needs to be accredited and have ongoing auditing by the new national EPA, which will be up and running from 1 July this year.

So there’s a number of different safeguards in there that make sure that state standards meet federal standards. It’s not about watering down the standards that we’ve got in place at the moment, it’s about making them consistent so that the process can be sped up much more than we’re seeing at the moment. JOURNALIST: You seem to be really struggling to find an agreement or reach an agreement with another resources state in Queensland at the moment.

Can you just take us through what are the big differences in terms of finding an agreement on the bilats here in WA versus what you’re up against in Queensland? MURRAY WATT: Yeah, look, I mean, I'll be honest with you, there's a massive contrast between the attitude we've seen here in Western Australia under Premier Cook, absolutely champing at the bit to enter one of these bilateral agreements so that we can protect the environment and speed up approval.

It's a massive contrast with what we're seeing in my home state in Queensland, and frankly, that's really disappointing. We do have an existing bilateral agreement with the Queensland Government under the existing EPBC Act that could be being used right now to streamline the assessments and approvals of projects in Queensland, like the Taroom Trough development that the Premier in Queensland is constantly going on about.

You may have seen, I've made the point the Premier in Queensland has been very keen to get out and do photo opportunities and media statements about a possible oil development that happened in Queensland. He's yet to provide a single piece of information to us that we can consider, but he wants us to fast track a development that he hasn't got any information about.

We don't know how many gas wells it is, we don't know where the pipelines would go, we don't know what impacts it might have on groundwater and agriculture. Like, they're basic things that you've got to know when you're actually assessing a project. And I've written to the Premier of Queensland and said, can you get that information to us without delay, and we'll consider it.

We're not standing in the way of anything. We want to consider these things. But, as I say, there's an existing bilateral in Queensland which they could be using right now to fast track that or any other project.

And when it comes to these new bilaterals under the new reformed laws, we are not seeing anywhere near the same level of enthusiasm from the Queensland Government. In fact, last week, they said they were setting up a State Productivity Commission inquiry to look into the EPBC reforms, and they'd want that to report back in 12 or 18 months’ time before they'd even think about signing a bilateral with us.

Compare that to what you're seeing here in Western Australia today with a Premier who's pretty regularly on the phone to me saying, how about that bilateral? That's what we need. That's what we need from every state, that kind of go-getting attitude rather than creating unnecessary obstacles that slow this down.

JOURNALIST: How many calls have you got? MURRAY WATT: Several. We're on speed dial.

JOURNALIST: Premier, does this open up an opportunity for more fracking in this state? ROGER COOK: No, not necessarily. What this does is reduces the potential for duplication in terms of assessment and approval processes.

And in the first instance, this is about assessment of projects so that you can have a single point of truth in relation to the impact of any project that it might have on the environment. So we expect this will actually improve the environmental outcomes but also improve the opportunities to get projects to shovel. JOURNALIST: Premier, yesterday you were asked about Angus Taylor's plan to slash green tape.

And in your response, you had a go at him for being too stubborn to negotiate with the government to get the EPBC reforms through. That's hardly a ringing endorsement of what's eventuated, right? And have you raised those concerns with the Minister?

ROGER COOK: Well, look, I just stated the bleeding obvious that the government had two opportunities to get this through the Senate. One was to do an agreement with the Liberals, one was to do an agreement with the Greens. And the Liberals, by their attitude, walked away from the very debate that many of the people, the companies that they're now saying that they're supporting, by virtue of their actions.

The fact of the matter is that Angus Taylor and his team sold Western Australia down the river when they refused to negotiate on sensible reforms for the Environmental Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act. And the last person that should now be complaining about environmental protections in this country is Angus Taylor, because it was his team that refused to reach a sensible outcome in relation to the EPPC Act.

JOURNALIST: So do those words mean that you're not comfortable with where the reforms ended up? ROGER COOK: No, I'm just simply saying he is the wrong person to enter in any criticism of it now because he's the one that simply walked away from the debate. JOURNALIST: But if WA has been sold down the stream, as you say, by the Liberals, did Labor not also have a role in that because they were the ones who pushed ahead with those reforms that you have a problem with?

K: Not at all. I think the outcomes that you saw as a result of Minister Watt's strong leadership and the leadership of the Prime Minister managed to get sensible reforms through the parliament. I support those reforms, but I'm not criticising the reforms.

Angus Taylor is. He's the one that's criticising the reforms, but he's the one that abandoned that entire debate. He's the last person that should be criticising them today.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] MURRAY WATT: I mean, I saw what Angus Taylor had to say here yesterday. Frankly, it was embarrassing. I mean, Angus Taylor is the leader of a party who were in power for 10 years and failed to reform the EPBC Act.

They then had the opportunity to work with us on reforms last year and they voted against the reforms that have allowed us to be standing here today entering this agreement. And now, he wants to criticise those reforms. While Angus Taylor and his colleagues were busy knifing Sussan Ley as the leader and chasing One Nation, we were getting on with the job of passing reforms that were long overdue in this country and are allowing these kind of agreements to now happen.

JOURNALIST: He yesterday as well criticised the Federal Government's spending. He called it reckless and he says his plan to drive down debt would be to dig and drill. Can we get your reaction to that as well?

MURRAY WATT: Well, a couple of things. Again, Angus Taylor has got absolutely no credibility when it comes to economic policy in this country. He was Peter Dutton's shadow treasurer who went to an election opposing the tax cuts that Labor was providing for working people here in Western Australia and right across the country.

And Angus Taylor's economic package that he took to the last election would have increased deficits and increased debts. And now, he's some born-again economic rationalist seeing the light about economic policy. Look at this guy's record, not just what he says.

When it comes to drilling and oil, we've said repeatedly that we are open to any project that people want to put forward, and this is the conversation we're trying to have with the Queensland Government at the moment. If people have got projects that they want to put forward, whether they be oil, gas, renewables, other things, we will of course consider them and put them through our processes.

JOURNALIST: Is the Federal Government seriously considering a tax on gas exports ahead of the Federal Budget? MURRAY WATT: Well, a couple of things on that. For starters, we did increase the PRRT, effectively the tax on offshore oil and gas in our first term, and I think from memory that's raising about $2 billion more for the Federal Budget than was the case when we came to power.

Our policies about gas taxes haven’t changed. There’s a Federal Budget coming down in two or three weeks’ time. Every single day we see speculation about different things that we might or might not do in the Budget and we all don’t have to wait too long.

JOURNALIST: Other nations are getting more on the same amount of gas exports though. Is Government doing enough for its citizens? MURRAY WATT: Well, as I say, I mean, even in our first term, we increased the tax on oil and gas developments which is now bring in $2 billion extra than when we came to office which is helping deliver the hospitals, the roads, the schools that Western Australia and the rest of the country needs, and we’ll have more to say about the Budget in a couple of weeks.

JOURNALIST: Premier, are you concerned that you’re going to be blindsided by changes to the NDIS? ROGER COOK: Look, we understand the Commonwealth’s objective to get it under control, the cost blowouts associated with the NDIS. It’s an important national program but it’s one that has gotten galloping costs associated with it.

So we understand their ambitions to get those costs under control and these are issues that we have been discussing with the Commonwealth for some time under the national governance arrangements. That’s why you’ve seen us enter into agreement around foundational supports. You’ve seen us working with the Commonwealth around the full of that process.

But we’ll wait until the Federal Budget in terms of any outcomes as far as that’s concerned. JOURNALIST: And before we move off gas, sorry, can I just get your thoughts, Premier, on - there’s a lot of conversation being bandied around about this 25 per cent tax- new tax on gas exports. What is your view?

Would you support a new tax on gas exports? ROGER COOK: Well, look, I understand that that sort of conversation has superficial appeal. I can understand why that’s attracting a bit of attention at the moment, but can I just make the observation is that we are asking companies to come to Australia and invest significant amounts of money as part of a multi-decade project which will see prosperity brought to this country as part of that initiative.

Now, one of the reasons why we can bring these long term investments to Australia and Western Australia is because of the stable investment environment and the low risk associated with big changes in relation to tax regimes. So you can make changes but you have to do it in a very considered way and in a way which doesn’t compromise your ability to attract international investment.

JOURNALIST: So you don't support it? You don’t support it, it seems? ROGER COOK: No, I don't support it, but I understand that it’s - for many people, it seems like an attractive proposition.

But I don't think it would be good for Western Australia, and I've made those views clear to the Prime Minister. JOURNALIST: You made a [inaudible] on the recent kind of interest in it. It's on the left and the right.

Do you see an element of kind of populism in this gas tax? Is that what you were saying? ROGER COOK: They may be the words that you use.

I'm just simply saying that if we are going to continue to attract the investment that we need for these projects which deliver prosperity literally over decades, you have to make sure you provide a stable environment for these companies to be able to make those investment decisions. JOURNALIST: Just on this agreement, what are some of the non-negotiables for WA and what kind of way do you shift on?

ROGER COOK: Well, look, we want to see significant outcomes for the environment. We want to continue to create certainty for investment. We want to make sure that it protects the interests of stakeholders such as the traditional owners and people who are concerned for the environment.

That's why we are stepping through this process carefully. We think this is an important opportunity for Western Australia, an important opportunity to create more certainty both for investment and for the environment. [State Government issues] JOURNALIST: The changes to the NDIS are going to push an enormous amount of funding pressure back onto the states. Will you be calling a meeting of the Council of Federation to discuss this ahead of the next National Cabinet?

ROGER COOK: Yeah, well it shouldn't. We have already made significant commitments to reform in relation to the NDIS particularly around foundational programs. So the Commonwealth should be looking, I'm sure, at a reform process which minimises the escalation in costs for the NDIS but they shouldn't expect the states to pay for all of that. [State Government issues] JOURNALIST: And just quickly for Minister Watt, can you explain I guess why this agreement is needed and why it's not as simple as state bureaucrats looking at the federal rules and just applying it to projects?

And apologies if I missed it before, but when are you hoping that the approvals agreement will be signed? MURRAY WATT: Yep. So when you have a chance to read the MoU, you'll see that what we've said is that negotiations on an approval agreement will commence immediately after the implementation of this assessments agreement.

You know frankly we want to get the systems working right between the two governments before we move to the next stage of approvals agreement and an assessments agreement is where we've started with other states as well. As I say the benefit of reaching one of these kind of an agreements is that we cut two processes into one. So rather than a project requiring to have a state assessment and approval and then trot off to the Federal Government and get a federal assessment and approval, we can have the state do that assessment for both governments at the same time.

And that can potentially save a significant amount of time, provide the houses that we need more quickly, the energy projects we need more quickly and all of the other projects that we need more quickly while of course being subject to really strong environmental standards. JOURNALIST: We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.

We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.