Nature Positive: Anthony Albanese intervenes to scuttle EPA deal with Greens, overruling Tanya Plibersek
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has personally intervened to kill off a deal his environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, was trying to make with the Greens over the Government’s controversial Nature Positive laws.
The Greens believed they were on the precipice of a shock deal to create a new Federal environmental protection agency before the intervention.
Mr Albanese personally assured WA Premier Roger Cook he wouldn’t do a deal with the Greens, effectively ending any prospect laws to establish the nature watchdog would be rushed through in Federal Parliament’s final sitting week of the year.
The Nightly understands Mr Cook contacted Mr Albanese on Tuesday as speculation swirled Labor was on the verge of striking an agreement with the Greens to pass the long-stalled legislation.
Greens sources have confirmed the party’s environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young was as late as Tuesday morning confident of landing a deal with Ms Plibersek to support the second stage of her hugely controversial Nature Positive plan.
The Greens had already dropped their demands for a “climate trigger” and were prepared to back the laws if Labor agreed to act on native forest logging.
But the Greens believe any prospect of a deal was scuttled just hours later after Mr Albanese stepped in.
State Mines and Petroleum Minister David Michael told an industry event on Tuesday night that Mr Albanese had personally assured Mr Cook earlier in the day there would be no Greens deal.
The Prime Minister’s alleged intervention came as industry groups lobbied him directly to shelve the EPA bill.
As revealed in The West Australian, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA and Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA wrote to Mr Albanese warning him the proposed watchdog would cause “great damage” to the State.
Senator Hanson-Young said Mr Albanese had been “bullied by the mining and logging lobby again”.
“The Greens put a deal on the table and the Government has walked away,” he said.
“The Greens want to get laws that would actually provide some protection for nature but Labor couldn’t even entertain protecting forests and critical habitat in an extinction crisis.”
More to come.
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