QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator WATT (Queensland—Minister for the Environment and Water) (14:48): I think we've all become familiar with the binary world that the Greens Party live in where you can only do one thing or the other. You can do one thing or the other. What this government has said consistently is that we will always assess individual projects on their merits, and this government has a record of finding ways to support economic development while protecting the environment.

We've done that repeatedly when it comes to individual project decisions, and that was, of course, the guiding principle that sat behind our EPBC reforms, which were about delivering stronger environmental protections and faster and simpler decisions. That is, of course, a principle that the Greens Party supported in agreeing to pass those reforms at the end of last year.

Now, Senator Waters and her Greens colleagues do like to focus on coal and gas projects and what happens with them in terms of decisions. What they always fail to mention is that this government has approved over 140 renewable energy projects since coming to office, and we intend to approve a lot more than that. (Time expired)