Speakers: ABC News Mornings, Host Gemma Veness; Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Bran Black
Topics: EPBC reform, net zero
E&OE
Gemma Veness, Host ABC News Mornings: Bran Black, the CEO of the BCA joins me now. Bran Black, welcome now these reforms to environmental laws, they’ll need the support of either the Greens or the Coalition in the Senate to get through you say you want to see the Government work with the Coalition. Why isthat?
Bran Black, Chief Executive: Well, we think that it’s so important with reforms of this nature that have such wide-ranging consequences for there to be agreement between the two major parties of government. That’s what delivers the longevity of outcomes that business is looking for, that delivers the certainty that helps secure investment.
And we know that we need investment. Australia’s productivity over the course of the last decade is at a six decade low, a major way of promoting productivity growth, as Ken Henry has noted, coming out of the Economic Reform Roundtable, is attending to EPBC reform, but getting it right, and as I say, we think it’s critical that we can get it right by securing agreement between the Government and the Opposition.
Gemma: We need investment. Does the fact that the Coalition has scrapped net zero, does that make that problematic at all?
Bran: Well, we think that the reforms that we’re proposing, the amendments that we think are important in the context of this legislation are sensible, fair and proportionate amendments. We think that they’re well and truly capable of being supported by both the Government and the Opposition.
We think that they are absolutely necessary, and they’re necessary because, as things stand right now, the reform does need amendment in order to deliver a net overall benefit for business and a net overall benefit to the environment.
And so as I say, we’ve called for a series of important reforms, and we think that those are well and truly capable of being supported by both sides of both major parties.
Gemma: And so those seven changes that you’re calling for, what are they in short?
Bran: Well, the key ones that we’ve noted, first and foremost, we need to see some change in relation to the definitions of unacceptable impacts. Now that’s important, because we need to make sure that projects that are presently capable of being assessed under the existing system are still capable of being assessed under the new system.
We need to see some fair and reasonable changes in terms of the powers of the EPA, certainly in relation to its scope to issue stop work orders, but also in relation to the types of powers it has with respect to assessments and approvals, we would say that that should sit with the department rather than with the EPA.
We do think it’s important that the EPA is a strong compliance and enforcement agency, and that’s appropriate, and that’s consistent with the approach that you see across states and territories.
Beyond that, the key change that business has always been pushing for is streamlined approvals. That doesn’t mean cutting quarters, and I really do stress that point. It means making sure that we’ve got the right processes, but we progress them with reasonable speed such that Australia doesn’t lag.
We know, for instance, that in the calendar years 2023 and 2024 there were 76 renewable projects that were submitted for approval through the EPBC process. Not a single one has been approved. That speaks to a sluggish system that needs significant reform in terms of how streamlined it’s become, or rather the lack thereof.
Gemma: And that clarity that you’re seeking on the powers of the new Federal Environmental Protection Authority. What specifically and why do you need clarity?
Bran: So if you look, for instance, at the stop work provisions at the moment, as it’s drafted, the Bill doesn’t contain any limitations on the capacity for the CEO of the EPA to issue stop work orders. And what we’re saying is that we think that the CEO of the EPA should be subject to the same type of procedural fairness requirements as one might reasonably expect.
They should be required to give reasons for their stop work order for instance. There should be a requirement that they then have to go to court after a reasonable period of time if they want that order to remain in place. Those are the types of fair and very reasonable procedural fairness requirements that you’d expect in any circumstance, and we think that they should apply here.
Equally in terms of the assessment and approval process, we think that that’s best left with the department, because the department is best able to weigh up the different social, environmental and economic factors that come into play when you’re making an assessment.
We don’t think it’s appropriate that an agency that has the prerogative of environmental protection, as set out in its name, should be in charge of undertaking that exercise as well.
Gemma: And back to net zero. Does the BCA continue to support it, and what is your reaction to the Coalition scrapping it?
Bran: Well, we do continue to support net zero, and we continue to support net zero by 2050. We think it’s important to have both the objective of net zero but also the time frame for its delivery.
We do stress that in the course of preparing policies that help us. Deliver on that ambition, we have to have the requirement for affordability, for reliability and ultimately also maintaining Australia’s competitiveness at the front of mind.
And so that’s a balancing exercise that we need to undertake along the way, and we think that the most appropriate way to do that is to work through the process of preparing plans in each of the six sectors, which is precisely what the Government is doing now.
But to address your question directly, we see, of course, in terms of energy policy, and as I mentioned before, in relation to the EPBC, the best thing for business is certainty. You get certainty when you know that there is ideally, some alignment between the policies of the two major parties of government, where that alignment doesn’t exist, that reduces certainty, and so that is a concern for business.
Gemma: Bran Black, CEO of the BCA. Thank you for speaking with us this morning.