[Greens-Media] FW: MEDIA RELEASE: GREENS GIVE LABOR A CHANCE TO LEAVE ENVIRONMENTAL LEGACY

[Klug, Georgie (Sen C. Milne)]

Monday 17 June

GREENS GIVE LABOR A CHANCE TO LEAVE ENVIRONMENTAL LEGACY 

The Australian Greens are urging the Gillard Government to support the Greens amendments to the water trigger bill, which is being debated in the Senate today, that would Abbott-proof national environment protection, protect national parks, give landholders the right to refuse coal seam gas and regulate shale and tight gas. 

"The Greens amendments to the water bill are Labor's last chance to Abbott-proof national environment protection," Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens environment spokesperson said. 

"Will they support good policy or will they do the bare minimum and then use the environment for political point scoring during the election?" 

"Tony Abbott has said again and again that he will get rid of national environment protection by handing federal approval powers for matters of national environmental significance over to his state cronies.  

"Labor has done nothing to stop this from happening and to protect the legacy Bob Hawke created when he stepped in to save the Franklin, and it has been left to the Greens to give Labor one last chance before the election to Abbott-proof national environment law by amending the water trigger bill."

The Greens also have amendments to the water trigger bill (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment Bill 2013) to give landholders the right to say no to coal and coal seam gas, to list national parks as a matter of national environmental significance and to assess the impacts of shale and tight gas mining on water resources federally. 

"Given the enormous risk to long term water supplies, land and the climate, landholders should have the right to refuse coal seam gas on their land," Senator Waters said.

"With state premiers in control of national parks, we're seeing logging, grazing, shooting and now prospecting across the four per cent of Australia meant to be permanently protected in national parks. 

"Although Labor has belatedly decided the impacts of coal seam gas and large coal mines should now be assessed federally, two years after the Greens called for this, the water trigger bill leaves out shale and tight gas mining, which also threaten groundwater supplies across almost half the country."

Media contact:

James Higgins - 07 3367 0566