Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025

Ms LEY (Farrer—Leader of the Opposition) (09:12): The Labor-Greens alliance is well and truly back in business. We've listened to you, Prime Minister, lay into the Greens every question time. But today the Greens are the best thing coming.

The Greens are amazing—you're so nice to the Greens. This is economy wrecking. The amendments are economy wrecking, and this government had to ram through— The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition will cease.

Ms Rishworth interjecting— The SPEAKER: The minister for employment is warned. There's too much noise. That's stating the obvious.

Everyone, calm down. Ms LEY: There were many people that the Prime Minister didn't reference in his remarks who need to be referenced. These are the people who pay the country's bills, who provide the jobs, who make our country strong and who have been completely ignored by the bill and by the amendments.

The Minerals Council called it 'inferior' and 'disappointing'. Energy producers have said that this deal will put all approvals in the slow lane. You see, that's what's really going to happen here if you want approvals for resources projects for gas.

I thought, Prime Minister, you had a future gas strategy. You have no gas strategy now. You have nothing to provide the power and the affordability to bring people's energy prices down.

Energy producers said that this will delay the new gas that has to come online to keep our electricity grid functioning. The Business Council of Australia has said this will create new barriers. Industry, farmers, energy producers—the people who pay the bills—have said this is rubbish.

This is garbage. We have been constructive at every step. But we're not here for lazy deals with the Greens; we're here for the people of Australia.

We're here for the people who care and who we care about. We're not here for dirty deals with the Greens. We understand how hardworking Australians are struggling.

This has not been a year of delivery for Australians. This has not been a year of delivery, nor has this prime minister delivered. He has delivered rising inflation, a rising cost of living and rising power prices.

Now, every approval that he said this legislation would fix is in the slow lane. There is no way that these amendments and this bill are going to make anything better in the ways that you, Prime Minister, and this government said. When it comes to it, it's all about the political fix.

That's what it was all about. We have the environment minister walking around parliament with two sets of amendments, one for the Greens and one for the coalition, but he never really cared about those ones. The deal was only ever going to be done with the Greens.

We know what that means. We know what was going on. We know a political fix when we see one.

This is what we see. Desperate for something, anything, in the last week and the last day, this piece of rubbish was pulled out of the hat. This could have gone on to next year—1,500 pages of legislation could have been properly consulted on, could have been done methodically and could have been done systematically.

But, after a disastrous year of no delivery, with inflation and interest rates rising, we had to have this. Shame on this government for letting down the people of this country, who pay the bills and who keep our country strong. I talk a lot about made in Australia, because we know that, under this amendment and this legislation, there won't be anything made in Australia.

We won't have a made in Australia. Prime Minister, what happened to the future made in Australia? You know that thing—$22 billion, a big front door, all of this excitement?

How much of the $22 billion of your Future Made in Australia fund has been spent? A big, fat zero! Honourable members interjecting— The SPEAKER: I can't hear the Leader of the Opposition, because everybody is interjecting.

If everyone can cease interjecting— Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER: Well, everyone is yelling—over your own leader. Everyone on this side can stop yelling, and ministers, in particular, can cease interjecting. The Leader of the Opposition's time has concluded.