Mark Butler MP.
Shadow Minister for Environment
Climate Change and Water
Date: 25 November 2014
It
is very hard to sum up the life and legacy of anyone in five minutes,
let alone someone who managed to cram as much activity and purpose into
their 98 years as Gough Whitlam did. In the short time I have I would
like to reflect on Gough's legacy in the area of environmental
protection, because it was a very significant legacy. Gough Whitlam came
to power with a very ambitious platform in this policy area, as he did
in so many others. After a short stint in the environment portfolio
during the famous duumvirate with Lance Barnard, he appointed the very
energetic Moss Cass, who held the environment portfolio in the Whitlam
government for two and a half of the three years. The Commonwealth role
in environmental protection then was a relatively blank slate. In
Australia and other developed nations, particularly the United States,
the environment was only then just beginning to emerge as a significant
political issue. The previous government had only appointed a minister
to the portfolio in the last year or two of its 23 years, and had not
managed yet to really craft much of an agenda.
Gough
Whitlam's approach to this area, though, was consistent with all of the
other policies he focused on. Firstly, he again was ahead of his time
in grasping the importance of progressive change in this area. As one
example, in his 1974 campaign speech Gough Whitlam said:
Labor believes the polluter should pay, not future generations of Australians.Which is a debate that we know only too well remains unresolved today.
He
also boldly promoted the role of the Commonwealth, or the Australian
government, in protecting our beautiful natural environment. As he did
in so many other policy areas, Gough unashamedly employed and deployed
every provision he could find in the Australian Constitution to support
his goals. Gough strenuously opposed the Bjelke-Petersen government's
plan to drill for oil in the Great Barrier Reef, for example. He took
the then unprecedented step of passing a Commonwealth law to override
the Queensland government in the Seas and Submerged Lands Act. The
conservative state, not just Queensland but a number of others, took
Gough to the High Court, claiming that it was up to the Queensland
government to decide whether or not to drill in one of the seven natural
wonders of the world. Gough's government argued that one of his
favourite provisions of the Constitution, the external affairs power in
section 51(39), gave the Commonwealth power beyond the low-water mark to
enact legislation of that type, and the High Court agreed. On that
foundation Gough built the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and legislated
to create the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which remains
in place today.
Gough
also used the external affairs power to sign Australia onto the World
Heritage Convention, Australia being one of the first countries to do
so. On that basis we have seen in the last four and a bit decades the
listing of so many precious areas onto the world heritage list, a
decision ultimately that was validated again by the High Court,
memorably in the Franklin Dam case. Gough ratified a number of other
conventions to drive better domestic environmental protection. I do not
have the opportunity to list them, but notably the Ramsar convention,
which protects wetlands and associated biodiversity.
The
role of the Australian government in protecting Australia's
environmental assets that have world heritage values is a great Whitlam
legacy, a legacy that the Labor Party today seeks to extend and protect
in opposing the current government's attempts to hand back the
protection powers over world heritage properties to the states and
territories.
Gough
also used the fiscal reach of the Australian government to introduce
laws requiring environmental impact assessments, for the first time, of
developments that involved Commonwealth land or Commonwealth funds. He
also established the National Parks and Wildlife Service, a highlight
among so many examples over so many decades of Labor's strong connection
and support for our national park system. He also established the
Australian Heritage Commission, recognising that our wonderful heritage
does not only extend to our beautiful natural environment.
As
the years passed the focus of environmental politics obviously shifts.
The challenges of climate change and water scarcity, for example, were
not much discussed in the time in which Gough Whitlam was Prime
Minister. But the framework that Gough established for this parliament
to play a leading role in nurturing and protecting our beautiful natural
environment remains as relevant today as it was when Gough first
prosecuted that argument.
Vale Edward Gough Whitlam. He was a true pioneer.
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