Press conference, Adelaide

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Well, thanks very much for coming along today. It's absolutely terrific to be here at Adelaide Zoo, Australia's second oldest zoo, second only to Melbourne, but catching up all the time and doing a fantastic job here looking after some of Australia's fantastic native species. Thanks to Phil and all of the team here for hosting us today, and introducing me to one of Australia's critically endangered species, the regent honeyeater.

The reason we're here today is to announce two more steps forward in the Albanese Government's historic reforms to Australia's national environmental law - the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, known as the EPBC Act. What you'll see when I take you through what we're announcing today is that we've maintained the focus on balance between the environment and getting projects built.

That was the approach that we had when we passed those reforms late last year, and that's the approach that we're taking as we roll out these reforms and implement them. For our Government, it's never been about only making sure that we have wins for the environment or wins for business. We firmly believe that it's possible to have stronger environmental protections while also making a lot of our processes much more simple and clear for business so that we can get the housing, energy, and minerals projects that Australia needs.

So, the first announcement I'm making today is that, from today, we will be commencing a process to develop new protection statements for some of Australia's most endangered species. Protection statements are a new tool that is now available under the reformed EPBC legislation. And what they're about is making sure that we have much clearer guidance for decision-makers in my department when they're assessing projects, for proponents of projects, and for the community at large about the steps that need to be taken to avoid having impacts from projects on some of our most endangered species.

Now, having those kind of clear statements is obviously good for those species and for the environment. This is a strong step that we're taking today towards greater environmental protection. But this is also a very good development for the business community, because it will allow them to have that clear guidance from our department about the steps that their projects need to take in order avoid having those terrible impacts that we want to avoid on our most endangered species.

Now, the five species that we're commencing this pilot with - and these have all been endorsed by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee – are the regent honeyeater, that's a species that, here at Adelaide Zoo, a lot of work has been done over the last few years towards its breeding and to increasing its population, particularly in southwest New South Wales and northern Victoria which are really the only places in Australia that still have populations of that critically endangered species.

We'll also be developing a protection statement for the southern bent-wing bat, the pygmy blue-tongue lizard, the grand spider orchid, and the southern right whale. Now, in those choices, we've made some- a very deliberate decision to prepare these protection statements for quite a diverse range of species. So you'll see in there we have a bird, we have a reptile, we have a whale, we have plants.

All of them come from different parts of the country, and they all have different levels of endangered category. We didn't want to just prepare these protection statements for the most critically endangered species, we've also included some that are endangered or vulnerable as well. So, as I say, this is a pilot.

We will, over time, expand the number of protection statements that we develop, but this is a very strong win that we're commencing today for our natural environment and also for the business community. Likewise, the second announcement that I'm making today, and the Prime Minister is talking about this in a speech in Perth this morning as well, is that we are taking another major step forward today to speed up the process around environmental assessments and approvals for projects nationwide.

What we'll be doing is providing $45 million over the next four years to support the negotiation of bilateral agreements between the Federal Government and state and territory governments to simplify and speed up the processes for assessing and approving projects under State and Commonwealth environmental law. I think all of us understand that Australia needs more housing, more energy projects, more minerals projects, and we need them now.

And unfortunately, the processes we've had to date in getting those assessments and approvals have just taken too long and have involved far too much red tape. We obviously want to make sure that, when we're assessing and approving projects, we absolutely consider the impact of those projects on the environment. But that doesn't mean that we should be having a process where a state government assesses and approves a project only to see the Federal Government then have to do a separate assessment and approval of a project, which is the system that we've had over the last 25 years.

One of the major reforms that we included in those reforms to the EPBC Act was to make it easier for us to reach these bilateral agreements with states and territories, with the outcome being that a state government would be empowered to conduct an assessment and, over time, approvals of projects - not only against their own state laws but also against Commonwealth laws as well.

So that removes a layer of duplication in not having to get different levels of governments to do those assessments and approvals and can potentially save significant of time when it comes to approving and assessing those housing, energy, and minerals projects that we need. All of those bilateral agreements will be subject to very strong environmental safeguards.

For example, they will be subject to the new National Environmental Standards that we're also developing as a result of the EPBC reforms. And all of those bilateral agreements will be subject to assurance, in an ongoing way, by the new National Environment Protection Agency, which is established from 1 July this year. So as you can see, we're getting on with the job of implementing these EPBC reforms.

It took a huge amount of work last year to get them passed. There's a huge amount of work involved in implementing the reforms. We're getting on with it.

And these two announcements today; commencing the development of protection statements and funding bilateral agreements with states and territories; are another sign that these reforms will deliver very much stronger environmental protections and also simpler, faster processes for business to power productivity across the country. Happy to take any questions.

JOURNALIST: On those environmental planning approvals, how does that impact fossil fuel projects? MURRAY WATT: Yeah so where we got to in the EPBC reforms are that all projects of whatever nature will now have more streamlined, faster approval and assessment processes than what we've seen in the past, and they will all remain subject to strong national environmental standards.

So if you’re talking about a gas development, a wind farm, a solar farm, a housing development, a critical minerals development, all of those projects will benefit from faster, more streamlined assessment and approval processes than we've seen before. There are a couple of processes that were created in the new legislation that won't apply to fossil fuel projects.

Frankly, it's very unlikely that a fossil fuel project would have qualified for those kind of processes anyway, because of their complexity and because of the impact that they may have on the water table and other environmental impacts. But as I say, all projects, regardless of their nature, will have a faster, more simplified, clearer assessment and approvals than they have in the past, in particular through those bilateral agreements that we're funding the development of.

JOURNALIST: So this is being dubbed a one-step process, and it will require states to step up and stand up and adhere to new national environmental standards. Are you confident that all states and territories will be on board with this? MURRAY WATT: Yeah, we've had a very positive reaction from most states and territories to this.

You may have seen last week I was in Perth and I signed an MoU with Premier Roger Cook there, which committed us to sign and finalise a bilateral assessments agreement this year, with the intention of then moving on to an approvals agreement after that. I've had very positive discussions with a number of state governments, including here in South Australia, about their desire to sign these bilaterals.

I think all state governments also recognise that the public expects us to work together to deliver the housing, the energy, the minerals projects that Australia needs. Queensland has not been quite as enthusiastic when it comes to those agreements, but I continue to make the case that if they want to serve Queensland as well when it comes to getting approvals through for those critical projects the easiest, fastest way we can do that is to sign a bilateral agreement, and I hope they will come to the party before long.

JOURNALIST: Is this a money-saver, or will that expense be pushed on to the state governments? MURRAY WATT: Well, I mean, from a business point of view, us entering a bilateral agreement with the state and territory will undoubtedly save significant amounts of money and time for businesses who are seeking to get assessments and approvals of their projects, and that's a good thing.

From a government point of view, this money will go to the federal and state governments to support the negotiation of agreements. So we're not trying to pass costs onto the state, we're putting up $45 million over the next four years to support the federal and state government efforts to get these agreements underway. JOURNALIST: If the state or territory doesn't agree to entering a bilateral approval agreement, will a project proposal go to the back of the queue?

MURRAY WATT: Well I think- I mean, obviously every project will be assessed on its own merits but there's no doubt that if we can have a bilateral agreement in place with a state or territory it will speed up the assessment and the approvals of that project in that state. As I was saying, we have a situation at the moment where- we're here in Adelaide, if you want to do a property development in Adelaide, if you want to build a wind farm or a mining project that's going to have impact on nationally protected environmental matters, the current process requires you to have an assessment done and an approval done by the state government and then subsequently get the same thing done by the federal government for an assessment and approval.

If we can remove that duplication and have that process done once, that is going to save significant amounts of time for those projects and that's why we're encouraging states and territories to sign these agreements. JOURNALIST: On the Queensland state government again, have you still not received any proposal from them on its push to fast track-track approvals for the Taroom Trough?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, that's correct. As of yesterday we had still not received a single piece of detail the Queensland Government about this proposal for a new oil and gas development in Taroom Trough. We have said repeatedly that we're open to considering this.

We don't take an ideological position on these issues but of course we need to know what the project is. The Queensland Government can't even tell us how many wells - oil and gas wells - there will be in this development. They can't tell us how deep they will be.

They can't tell us what the impact on the groundwater would be. They can't tell us where the pipelines would be and what impacts that might have to transport the oil and gas to the coast of Queensland. These are pretty basic pieces of information that we need in order to make an assessment of this project, and that's what the Queensland Government should be focusing on rather than constant press conferences in high-vis where they talk about something that they haven't done the basic work on.

I've made the point also that including through a bilateral agreement, there are options available to the Queensland Government to fast-track this project if they want to. We have an existing bilateral agreement with the Queensland Government. The reforms that we've passed to the laws will make that better, but right now they could conduct an assessment of that project if they wish to.

The reason they're not doing that is because they don't have any of that detail. But if they can provide that detail to us, we'll obviously work with them on that. JOURNALIST: So have you received a response to your letter to the Queensland Premier?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah I received a response a few days ago from the Deputy Premier of Queensland, which again, did not provide any of that detail. It simply reiterated the Queensland Government's position that they wanted to see this fast-tracked. They seem to think that we've got to change the legislation, that I might say Liberal and National Party members voted against last year.

They now want us to change that legislation that they voted against in order to fast-track that project. What I'm saying to them is they can already fast-track that project through the existing bilateral agreement we have and they can make it even better still if they agree to sign up to one of the new bilateral agreements that will encompass of the EPBC reforms as well.

JOURNALIST: (The) One Nation candidate in Farrer is opposing the Murray-Darling buyback scheme. Are you planning on making any changes to the scheme? MURRAY WATT: Well, certainly both federal and state Labor have got a very strong history in supporting the health of the Murray-Darling Basin and of course water security here in South Australia.

It's not possible to say that about any of the right-wing parties - the Liberal, National or One Nation parties - who have consistently opposed aspects of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, in particular water buybacks. You may have seen earlier in the year I was here in South Australia announcing that we were listing the Lower Murray as critically endangered, as another sign that the Murray-Darling Basin remains needing work to restore its health.

Now, I'm very concerned to have seen comments from One Nation's candidate in the Farrer by-election upstream where he is strongly opposing water buybacks and suggesting that some of that water should be returned and not kept for the environment. I think the question for all South Australians is what do the South Australian One Nation MPs have to say about this?

We saw at the most recent South Australian state election that seven One Nation members were elected to the South Australian Parliament. Do they agree with their candidate in Farrer who wants to get rid of buybacks and return that water so it's not kept for the environment? What does Cory Bernardi have to say about that?

Or are we going to see another situation where One Nation says one thing in one state and says a completely different thing in the other state? It's time for the South Australian MPs to show their hand about where they stand on water security for South Australia, and whether they support their candidate upstream in getting rid of water buybacks. JOURNALIST: So you are looking to alter the scheme?

MURRAY WATT: So there is an existing Murray-Darling Basin Plan in place which we are implementing, and some of the key components of that are voluntary water buybacks which we are funding and also water efficiency projects which we're funding right across the Basin. We intend to see that plan through, including the voluntary buybacks, and to achieve the targets set in the plan of recovering 450 gigalitres of water for the environment.

It's the One Nation candidate upstream, along with Liberal and National Party candidates who's threatening to tear that up and get rid of buybacks. And that's why I'm saying it's important that the South Australian One Nation MPs tell the community here, do they agree with their candidate who's running in a by-election upstream, or are they going to take a different position and show that One Nation is in chaos as it always is?

JOURNALIST: Is your confidence in delivering the entire 450 gigalitres of water of environmental flows, is that rattled at all, I guess, by the failures in New South Wales and Queensland relating to the Northern Basin Toolkit failures? MURRAY WATT: Yeah, so I think what you're referring to there is the report that was handed down in the last few days by the Inspector-General of Water when it comes to the Murray-Darling Basin.

And he found that program which had attracted significant federal funding, had not been properly implemented by state governments who were the beneficiaries of that funding. Now, of course, as a federal minister, on behalf of taxpayers, I'm always concerned if we're not seeing federal money used effectively by state governments. But that doesn't take away from the fact that we need to deliver the Plan.

South Australians, of all people, understand the importance of delivering the Murray-Darling Basin Plan to protect the ongoing health of the basin and to protect South Australia's water security. That's why we're committed to seeing the plan through in all its forms; voluntary water buybacks, water efficiency projects, a range of other measures as well. And as I say, it's time for the South Australian One Nation members to tell us where do they stand on this issue that is so important to South Australians.

JOURNALIST: How concerned are you about what's happened at the Gwydir Wetlands in New South Wales with the death of the turtles? MURRAY WATT: Yeah, look, I think like all Australians who've seen that footage, it's very disturbing to see again some of our native in that state in a damaged water ecosystem. We have had discussions with the New South Wales Government about that.

We're interested in what they're doing. They have assured us about the steps that they are taking to remedy the situation. But of course, that's disturbing footage.

And again, it's a sign about why it's so important to all Australians that we deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full. If we don't do that, we will see more events like that. We will go back to the situation we saw here in South Australia years ago, where the Murray mouth was effectively closed and wasn't getting the water that it needed.

We don't want to see that happen for the environment. We don't want to see that for the species that rely on the Murray-Darling Basin system. And we don't want to see it happen for the agriculture industry and the communities whose livelihoods depend on a healthy Murray-Darling Basin into the long term.

JOURNALIST: Yeah, just on the Wilcannia Weir project, it's currently paused due to the Commonwealth not contributing extra funding needed by the New South Wales State Government to finalise it. How long will this go on? MURRAY WATT: Yeah, well, again, we're in discussions with the New South Wales Government about this.

We originally committed $15 million towards the Wilcannia Weir and somewhere in the range of $5 to $7 million has already been used by the New South Wales Government towards that project. We have not yet received a business case demonstrating the cost benefit of that project. Of course, again, when it comes to investing federal money on behalf of taxpayers, we need to be confident about the cost benefit of particular projects.

But that money remains available to the New South Wales Government to use for other purposes, particularly focusing on the First Nations needs in that region which is what the original intent of that project was. JOURNALIST: And Minister, when will you visit Wilcannia or Menindee, two outback communities who rely on the Darling River? MURRAY WATT: Look, I'd like to get there at some point.

As you can imagine there's lots of places that people want me to visit. In the last couple of weeks, I've been in Northern Victoria, meeting with farmers, meeting with communities about the Murray-Darling Basin. I've been in Perth, I've been in Adelaide.

It's impossible to get to everywhere immediately. But of course, at some point in the future I’d be keen to sit down and meet with people there. JOURNALIST: MURRAY WATT: No worries.

Thanks everyone. 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.