Greens leader Larissa Waters has slammed the Albanese Government for prioritising ‘sh***y’ environmental laws over negotiations with her party.
ABC Insiders host David Speers questioned Waters on whether her party would uphold its reputation of being ‘obstructionist’ in ongoing debate about environmental law reforms on Sunday morning.
‘When it comes to these environment laws, the government says it wants to speed up approvals but also deliver better environmental outcomes,’ Speers said.
‘The Greens were criticised in the last term, and you lost a number of seats, for being seen as too obstructionist. Are you willing to stand in the way of environmental law changes this time? Or will you be more cooperative?’
Waters smiled as she shifted the blame on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
‘The Prime Minister killed that arrangement that we were about to ink for stronger environmental protections. So I’m afraid it was the Prime Minister blocking positive reform in that regard,’ she said.
‘We’re happy to have talks with the minister and those talks have begun but, unfortunately, the minister seems to be sending signals that he’d rather do a deal with the Coalition for sh***y environmental laws that don’t protect the planet.’
In November, Albanese overrode then-Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and cancelled her deal with the Greens, which would have established a national environment watchdog.
Greens leader Larissa Waters (pictured) slammed the Albanese Government for prioritising ‘sh***y’ environmental laws proposed by the Coalition over her own party’s
ABC Insiders host David Speers (pictured) questioned if the Greens would remain ‘obstructionist’ in the ongoing debate for environmental law reform
Albanese struck down the deal over concerns it would be weaponised by the Opposition and the resources sector before the federal election in May 2025.
Speers pressed Waters further on what ‘red lines’ the Greens had for law reforms, asking: ‘Will you die in a ditch over a climate trigger or native forest logging?’
‘Those laws were written last century and don’t even require the minister of the day to think about climate, let alone block on the basis of climate,’ Waters said.
‘That will continue to be a core demand of ours. You can’t have environmental laws that don’t protect the environment or think about the climate impacts of what we do.’
Environment Minister Murray Watt in August pledged to have reformed environment laws before parliament by the end of the year.
‘There is very strong support – across business, environment and community representatives – for serious and urgent reform to deliver stronger environmental protections, faster and simpler project approvals, and greater transparency in environmental regulation,’ he said.
‘I have been consulting extensively over the past three months on these reforms, holding more than 40 meetings, roundtables and forums with environment, resources, energy, property and other business groups.
‘In those meetings, I have consistently heard that we need to move quickly to reform these laws, as delays mean holding up investment and more environmental destruction.
Waters took aim at Anthony Albanese (pictured), saying he was ‘blocking positive reform’
‘We are answering that call by significantly accelerating these reforms.
‘We will continue consulting in the months ahead as we develop the reforms and get closer to passing this vital legislation.’
While Speers tried to find out what else the Greens want in the reforms, Waters only said: ‘Well, we haven’t seen the legislation yet. We don’t know what is in it.
‘We’re sending strong messages on what we’d like to see in it and we think Australians expect an environment that is protected, a climate that is liveable, and action on the cost of living.
‘The government could be doing those things but all it’s doing is bending over backwards for big corporations and making life harder for people, while trashing the planet.
‘Nobody voted for that.’
Daily Mail contacted Waters for further comment.