Latest news with #environmentlaws
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Australia news live: Iran calls on ‘friendly' Australia to condemn Israel; Watt holds summit to rewrite environment laws
Update: Date: 2025-06-18T20:44:39.000Z Title: The EPBC reform train is leaving the station, says Murray Watt Content: Leaders from about 25 mostly environment and business organisations will meet with the environment minister, Murray Watt, in Canberra today to give their views on how to fix the national environment laws. It is the first meeting of stakeholder groups on the issue since the previous minister, Tanya Plibersek, last year delayed a commitment to rewrite the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act until after the 3 May election. A promise to create a national Environment Protection Agency was also later shelved after Anthony Albanese scuttled a potential deal with the Greens following pressure from WA. Watt told Guardian Australia the meeting would include environment organisations, business groups, the mining industry, urban developers, renewable energy companies and first nations bodies. He said there was 'very broad agreement that we desperately need change to these laws – they're broken'. The purpose in bringing them all together is so that people can hear each other's perspectives, rather than being each other in their own corners, you know, fighting. The way I've described it to a couple of people is: the EPBC reform train is leaving the station. We broadly know where we want to get to, but we haven't yet defined the exact destination, and there's an opportunity for all of these groups to be involved in shaping that final destination. I want as many interest groups on that reform train working together as possible, rather than people choosing to stand on the platform, throwing rocks and shouting. Update: Date: 2025-06-18T20:37:24.000Z Title: Iran's ambassador appeals to government to condemn Israeli attacks Content: Iran's ambassador to Australia has called on the prime minister to condemn Israel for its attack on his country, claiming that its nuclear program is a 'peaceful measure'. Speaking with the ABC's 7.30, Ahmad Sadeghi asked Australia, as a 'friendly nation' with which Iran is in 'good relation', to recognise that the Middle Eastern nation has a right to self defence after Israel's attack. Speaking about the Albanese government, he said: 'They have to condemn [Israel] … I ask them.' He said Iran's nuclear program was a 'peaceful measure' and, when pushed on whether Iran was developing a nuclear weapon, he referred to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 'Of course not. You know it has been prohibited by our supreme leader,' the ambassador told the host, David Speers. Sadeghi did not give a straight answer when asked whether Israel had a right to exist and said that should the US become directly involved in the Israel-Iran war, some 80,000 US personnel stationed in the Gulf region would 'not be as comfortable as much as now'. 'The other the Islamic nations around the north, in Pakistan, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in [the] southern part of the Persian Gulf. All, if Iran would be attacked by the US, they would not be silent,' he said, before urging Donald Trump to be 'more careful'. Update: Date: 2025-06-18T20:30:38.000Z Title: Welcome Content: Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser for the bulk of proceedings. Iran's ambassador has called on Anthony Albanese to condemn Israel's attack on the Islamic Republic. The request adds to the prime minister's in-tray as he heads home from an unsuccessful attempt to engage Donald Trump on tariffs, and considers his second term agenda with parliament's first sitting just a month away. One of the big pieces of unfinished business from Labor's first term was the creation of an environmental protection agency. To address the issue, the environment minister, Murray Watt, is meeting leaders from about 25 mostly environment and business organisations in Canberra today to hear their views on how to fix the national environment laws. More details coming up.
ABC News
20-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Murray Watt lands in WA with a difficult decision to make on Woodside's gas operations
Newly installed federal Environment Minister Murray Watt is in WA sounding out two big issues facing federal Labor — the potential extension of Woodside's North West Shelf, and an overhaul of federal environment laws. His big task, though, is to avoid creating a third headache: an upset WA Premier Roger Cook, a man used to getting his way. Mr Watt made his way west, a week after being sworn in, to meet with the WA Premier, along with several other Labor ministers including Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti and Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn, hoping to iron out some key issues. The main one being the decision on whether to grant an extension to Woodside's North West Shelf gas project, which has fallen into Mr Watt's lap after a decision on it was delayed twice by former environment minister Tanya Plibersek before the election. "[I'm meeting with] quite a bunch of ministers because there's a lot of ministers that have got an interest in the issues within my portfolio," Mr Watt told reporters walking into the WA parliament on Tuesday. There's interest alright, not only regarding the decision on Woodside, given its looming May 31 deadline, but also the future of the Albanese government's nature positive legislation. Both issues are now in Mr Watt's hands whether he likes it or not — and players on all sides are watching very closely. Mr Watt was tight-lipped about his back-to-back meetings with several WA ministers but indicated it's his intention to make a "proposed decision" on the extension "in coming days" before the May 31 deadline. "There's been an enormous amount of work done by my department over the last few months," he said. His visit follows Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's flying visit to Perth last week en route to Indonesia. Mr Albanese was also tight-lipped on the decision. Woodside's proposal to extend the life of its gas facility in Karratha from 2030 to 2070 has been under assessment for six years, but got the green light in December by then-state environment minister Reece Whitby. It might have state approval, but the project needs the federal tick too — something many, including Mr Cook, are waiting with baited breath for. He said he wants the decision made "as soon as possible" — and again threw his support behind the extension. "If we can maintain the Karratha gas plant as an important tolling facility for gas resources ... that's a much better way to go than shutting it down now and seeing other developments, other projects have to develop the same sort of infrastructure to make sure that we can enjoy the benefits of that gas,' he said. Several groups, some with and some without scheduled meetings with Mr Watt this week, indicated they would continue to highlight concerns about the project's extension. Australian Marine Conservation Society CEO Paul Gamblin said the decision puts coral reefs as well as cultural heritage at risk along WA's coastline. "Minister Watt has the opportunity to prevent a decision that will haunt us forever," he said. "Our children won't be able to understand a decision to extend the North West Shelf for another half century creating enormous carbon pollution.. "If this project is extended … underwater bushfires are going to become raging infernos." Australian Conservation Foundation climate campaigner Piper Rollins said the organisation has secured a meeting with Mr Watt scheduled for "sometime during the week". "The Australian Conservation Foundation is looking forward to working constructively with Minister Watt, we've had early conversations with him and we look forward to working with him on nature reform laws and on the North West Shelf approval moving forward," she said. WA Greens MLC-elect Sophie McNeill said Minister Watt should visit Murujuga in Western Australia's Pilbara region like she is this week, given the debate about whether the project is damaging the ancient rock art, before making a final decision. "We think that he needs to go to Murujuga, see what's at stake before he makes his decision because this is on him. If he approves this project, the destruction of that ancient rock art is on him," she said. Woodside has maintained without the gas an extension would provide, WA's plans to get out of coal-fired power by 2030 would be under threat — and jobs would be put on the line. "It is a very clear proof that if we do not get approval to continue producing gas into the market, we will burn coal longer right here in Western Australia," Woodside CEO Meg O'Neill said earlier this month. The Environment Minister has a full calendar for his two-day visit, not only for minister catch-ups, but for meetings with a "broad range" of groups including industry, conservation, mining and first nations groups, as well as hoping to restart 'Nature Positive' talks for the government's re-write of environmental conservation reforms. The government wants to modernise the 25-year-old Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act, which governs environmental approvals including for mining, forestry and energy projects, but shelved its plans before the election after resistance, mainly from Mr Cook. "I've stood up to the Commonwealth government in the past, and I'll do it in the future if it's in the interests of Western Australia and I'll always stand up for WA," Mr Cook said. Mr Watt has the task of smoothing things over with a head-strong premier — something he's confident he can do. "Being a Queenslander I understand the strong way in which Western Australians put their views forward, we do the same in Queensland as well," he said. "The discussion with Premier Cook couldn't have gone better, there's a lot of desire with him to work closely together to tackle these reforms because he, like me, wants to make sure that [the] environmental laws at the federal level that protect the environment but also work for business." Time will tell whether he can do just that as he faces his first test in the west.
