New national environment laws: some wins, but a big fail for the Kimberley on climate

New national environment laws: some wins, but a big fail for the Kimberley on climate

The new national environment laws, announced today and set to be passed by the Federal Parliament, include some improvements such as making forest logging subject to the new Act and closing loopholes for land clearing in the Great Barrier Reef catchment, but overall the improvements are not enough to stop the steep decline in nature, particularly in the Kimberley.

The Greens managed to stop the ‘water trigger’ assessments for fracking being handed to the states and territories. They also helped prevent the fast-tracking of oil and gas projects.

“The Greens managed to save some of the furniture, but there’s a massive fight ahead to ensure that the National Environment Standards are strong and that regional plans don’t allow the fast-tracking of industrial projects and land clearing across the Kimberley,” said Environs Kimberley Executive Director Martin Pritchard.

The Kimberley's Danggu Geikie Gorge. Photo: Adam Monk.

“What we don’t want to see is the new Act just handing powers to the WA Government, given the Cook Government’s track record on weakening the state’s Environment Protection Act and bringing a development Czar who can override environmental assessments and wave them through without rigorous scrutiny,” Mr Pritchard said.

“The new national environment laws are a once-in-a-generation reform, and the Albanese Government has squandered the opportunity to bring oil and gas projects under emissions scrutiny in the new Act,” he said.

“The Kimberley is the only region on the continent that hasn’t had mammal extinctions, and it has the largest, most intact tropical savannah in the world, but it’s going to be the most impacted by climate change – the new act does nothing to mitigate that.”

“The recent National Climate Risk Assessment is showing the Kimberley will be uninhabitable on current climate projections. This would mean Traditional Owners, who’ve lived here for thousands of years, will be climate refugees, yet the new environment Act will not look at the climate impacts of fossil fuel projects.”

Threatened bilbies. Photo: Damian Kelly.

“Fitzroy Crossing, which already has 67 days a year over 40°C, is projected to have 225 days a year over 40°C by 2090 on current emissions projections.”

“The Kimberley has two of the largest climate threats in the country – Woodside’s Browse Basin proposal at Scott Reef, and Black Mountain’s Valhalla fracking proposal in the Martuwarra Fitzroy River catchment. These projects won’t be captured by the new laws, and that’s a travesty for nature and people in the Kimberley.”

“What these new laws show is that it is still going to take massive people power to protect the nature of the Kimberley.”

Help protect the Kimberley by becoming a member of Environs Kimberley here.

Header photo: The Kimberley's Martuwarra Fitzroy River. Photo: Wendy Mitchell.