The Albanese Labor Government’s revised Nature Positive proposals are only positive for bloated bureaucracy and more green tape for business, farmers and other job creators, Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster.

The second stage of Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s ‘Nature Positive Plan’ creates a new Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a new organisation called Environment Information Australia. However, neither currently have Federal laws to oversee their operation.

“The Minister has failed to deliver on her promised environmental reform in this term and is simply adding to confusion for both job creators and those concerned for their local environment,” Dr Webster said.

“After two years selectively consulting and hiding her plans from the Australian public, Minister Plibersek has used taxpayers’ funds to hire more bureaucrats without any legislative machinery to operate.”

Dr Webster said the Minister was simply duplicating State-based EPA bodies to grasp control over projects that serve Labor’s green railroading agenda.

Nationwide, Labor’s doomed targets – right through to 2030 – require approximately 22,000 solar panels to be installed every day and 40 wind turbines built every month. By 2050, some 28,000 kilometres of new transmission poles and wires – equivalent to almost the entire coastline of mainland Australia – will be erected across prime agricultural land and pristine bushland.

“As we have seen in Mallee with the 400km VNI West transmission line and wind turbine proposals, State Labor claim to have green credentials but have been ignoring local concerns about the impacts on native species. Victorian Labor will do untold damage racing from a current 37 per cent of energy from turbines and panels to their political target of 95 per cent in just 11 years.

“While Minister Plibersek promotes a costly duplicated approvals system, the Coalition Opposition is holding Labor to account for their environmental duplicity.”

“The Minister is threatening monetary fines and jail terms for businesses judged to have breached environmental obligations, enforced through stop-work orders and audits. Labor is scaring off job-creating investment and destroying Australia’s productivity.”