Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Board of Management Functions) Bill 2025

Senator GREEN (Queensland—Assistant Minister for Tourism, Assistant Minister for Pacific Island Affairs and Assistant Minister for Northern Australia) (18:04): I rise to contribute and sum up this debate on behalf of the Minister for the Environment and Water. I do want to put a couple of things on the record that will, hopefully, assist our consideration of any amendments.

First of all, I thank all senators for their contributions to the thoughtful debate about this very important bill, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Board of Management Functions) Bill 2025. I note that the Prime Minister and the minister had the opportunity on the weekend to visit Uluru for the 30th anniversary of the handback of the lands of the Anangu people.

This follows 40 years of successful joint management and really tells a story about that sacred place, which has been cared for incredibly well. It's open, it's accessible and it remains a place of great significance for Australians, and a great source of pride as well. Just like the Hawke government in the eighties, the Albanese government is committed to providing traditional owners with greater control over the management of their country, and this bill will contribute to that goal.

It will allow boards of management of jointly managed Commonwealth reserves to continue making decisions after a management plan expires, provided those decisions are consistent with the plan. This would maintain the board's decision-making ability until a new management plan comes into effect. The bill supports participation by traditional owners in matters relating to the management of their country, continuity of decision-making and consistency of governance arrangements for Commonwealth reserve management.

I want to acknowledge and thank the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, which recommended that this bill be passed, and acknowledge inquiry participants' broad support for the bill's overall objectives. I do note the additional comments made by the coalition and the Greens political party, who support the intent of the bill but seek further reforms.

As standalone and time-critical amendment to the EPBC Act, the bill is being progressed independently of the government's broader environmental reforms. In that vein, I want to address the second reading amendment proposed by the Greens—to point out what this bill does, what it doesn't do and what the government is doing to engage on these very critical issues.

Firstly—it won't be a surprise to senators down that end of the chamber—the government doesn't support the amendment. The bill is about ensuring that traditional owners maintain their ability to make decisions in relation to national parks that are jointly managed by government and traditional owners. That is a key form of partnership and traditional owner participation and management of country.

The bill is unconnected to broader environmental reforms, which are being progressed separately. The Greens know this. The Albanese Labor government is committed to delivering environmental cultural heritage law reform in this term of government.

We know that First Nations communities, business and industry are seeking greater certainty through a clearer, simpler process. That's why we've partnered with the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance to deliver cultural heritage reforms in this term of government. This partnership underpins the Australian government's approach to responding to recommendations made in two reports handed down by the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia following an inquiry into the destruction of the 46,000-year-old caves at Juukan Gorge.

The government and the alliance have been engaging with First Nations stakeholders, conservation and environmental organisations, and industry to identify priority areas that need to be modernised and strengthened in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act. We are committed to making sensible reforms to better protect our environment and deliver certainty to the industry.

This government wants to work with parties like the Greens to deliver better environmental outcomes and increase productivity. We think that the Greens political party should listen to the message that the Australian people gave them very clearly and work with the government, not against them, so that we can achieve these reforms together for the Australian people.

This bill is a standalone and time-critical amendment to the EPBC Act. It is about providing traditional owners with greater control of the management of their own country. Our government is committed to delivering environmental and cultural heritage law reforms in this term of government, and we intend to do that in consultation with First Nations stakeholders, conservation and environmental organisations, and industry.

I thank members for their contributions and I commend the bill to the Senate. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: The question is that Senator Waters's second reading amendment be agreed to.