[Greens-Media] Abbott’s Reckless Roe 8 Hunt puts Turnbull on Road to Ruin - Senator Scott Ludlam

[Paris, David (Sen S. Ludlam)]

Abbott’s Reckless Roe 8 Hunt puts Turnbull on Road to Ruin

The Abbott government’s determination to ignore or wipe out environmental protections, and Greg Hunt’s willing capitulation, have left Malcolm Turnbull with yet another captain’s call to clean up, the Australian Greens said today.

“Tony Abbott was determined to shortcut environmental protections to build the Roe 8 road to nowhere, and he had all-too-willing partners in the state Liberal government and Greg Hunt, the man currently occupying the office of Environment Minister. The WA Supreme Court’s finding that the Roe 8 approval is invalid is another failure for Malcolm Turnbull to clean up.

“On no less than eight occasions, I corresponded with Mr Hunt, warning him of the dangerously flawed EPA approval in WA, which his own Commonwealth approval heavily relied upon. By ignoring the concerns that were repeatedly raised, Mr Hunt has exposed the Commonwealth to a lengthy and costly legal process, or necessitated that the whole process start again from scratch. He should have done his job in the first place, and never given approval for such a destructive proposal.

“Mr Turnbull should call time on this fiasco, today. The money can be better spent getting freight on rail and getting the outer harbour under way,” Senator Ludlam concluded.