17th Jun 2013, 9:43 PM – Senate Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment Bill 2013 - In Committee - Bilateral agreements

The majority voted in favour of items 3A, 4A and 4B of Schedule 1 remaining as they are. These three items were inserted by amendment in the House of Representatives.(That division is available here. )

The items give precedence to the subdivision of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) that protects water resources from significant impacts caused by coal seam gas development and large coal mining development,(This subdivision is available to read on ComLaw, the Commonwealth website that contains the full text of all recent Australian Government legislation. For more on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) see the Wikipedia entry. ) even where bilateral agreements would otherwise allow a state government to act in respect of this type of development without approval.

The question was put after Senator Simon Birmingham moved an amendment to oppose those items.

Background to the Bill

The purpose of the bill is to protect water resources from significant impacts caused by coal seam gas and large coal mining developments.(See here for more information about the bill, including its explanatory memorandum and bills digest.) This is called a ‘water trigger’. The bill creates penalties and offences to prohibit such actions.

References