Port of Hastings
Senator VAN (14:39): My question is to Minister Wong, the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment and Water, Minister Plibersek. In light of the recent decision to reject the development proposal for the Port of Hastings project due to its projected impacts on the Ramsar listed Westernport wetlands, could the minister advise the chamber on the criteria and processes employed by the government in determining the support or rejection of significant projects, especially those intersecting with Australia's environmental obligations and renewable energy ambitions?
Senator WONG (14:40): I thank Senator Van for the question. As a matter of general principle, what I would say to him is that any decision under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is a decision that is made through the application of that law to the particular facts of the case. That is the way in which ministers of the Crown exercising their statutory obligations under that legislation have done so since its introduction, and that is the way Ms Plibersek would have approached this case. The fact is that every project—housing, mining, energy and so forth—is treated in this way—that is, the law is applied to the particular facts and the decision is made by the minister in relation to the application of the law to those facts.
I am advised the project was deemed unacceptable because the Port of Hastings failed to show it was consistent with federal environmental law, particularly with regard to the impact on internationally protected wetlands. I'm also advised that detailed reasons for the decision are publicly available online. I'm advised that the Port of Hastings is, of course, able to make another and revised application under the national environmental law and that senior officials from both the Victorian government and the federal government have already met to discuss possible next steps. The government will continue to consider each project on a case-by-case basis, consistent with the law, in the way I have outlined.
The PRESIDENT: Senator Van, first supplementary?
Senator VAN (14:41): Given the paramount importance of developing clean energy infrastructure such as offshore wind farms for Australia's energy future, what steps has the government taken to reconcile the imperative of these developments with the safeguarding of our international environmental commitments and the biodiversity they aim to protect?
Senator WONG (14:42): We agree with Senator Van as to the importance of developing renewable energy infrastructure. It is a regrettable fact that those opposite ensured that there was so little investment in the energy infrastructure the country needed over the nearly a decade that they were in government. We obviously need to ensure that these projects, like any other projects, are able to obtain approval under national environmental law in the way that I have described. I'm also advised that in fact the Albanese government is approving more renewable energy projects than ever before. In fact, we have seen the approval of some 42 renewable energy projects, which, combined, are enough to power over two million homes—equivalent to all households in Tassie, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT.
The PRESIDENT: Senator Van, second supplementary?
Senator VAN (Victoria) (14:43): Considering the critical balance between environmental preservation and the need to reduce carbon emissions, is the government contemplating the introduction of an environmental protection mechanism of some sort within the project assessment framework to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of projects that accounts for both their environmental impact and their carbon reductions?
Senator WONG (14:43): The advice I have is that the government will continue to consider each project on a case-by-case basis under the existing law. I'm also asked to advise the Senate of the range of renewables that Minister Plibersek has approved, which included the solar farm in Queensland, producing enough power for around 200,000 households; in the senator's own home state of Victoria one of the world's largest battery systems, which will power up to a million Victorian homes; two solar farms in New South Wales; a new wind farm in one of Queensland's oldest mining regions; and a huge battery energy storage system in WA to ease pressure on the grid and help us transition to a renewable future. I'm also advised that there are in fact a record 125 other renewable energy projects in the environmental approval pipeline. In relation to the Port of Hastings, as I said, they are able to make a further application.
