WATER TRIGGER TO BE EXTENDED UNDER LABOR

Media Release

THE HON MARK BUTLER MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT

CLIMATE CHANGE AND WATER

MEMBER FOR PORT ADELAIDE

JANELLE SAFFIN

LABOR CANDIDATE FOR PAGE

Date: 24 May 2016

Labor recognises the importance of, and the community concern about the extraction of gas from shales and tight formations. That’s why a Shorten Labor Government will extend the current Water Trigger to include shale and tight formation gas projects.

There are many parts of Australia that are being explored for new unconventional gas extraction. In recent years, there has been growing concern by environmentalists, farmers and communities about the possible impacts of coal seam gas (CSG) projects and increasingly about shale and tight formation gas projects.

When in government, Labor added a Water Trigger to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act to cover CSG and large coal mining developments. This ensures that if these projects impact water resources, then they are rigorously assessed under the EPBC Act.

Labor’s policy will extend the protection provided by the Water Trigger to ensure that any shale or tight formation gas developments that impact water resources will also be subject to a full assessment under the EPBC Act and approval from the Minister for Environment; including an assessment by the Independent Expert Scientific Committee.

Through this process projects will be required to put in place systems to protect the environment if required and the concerns of communities in vulnerable regions can be addressed.

Labor wholeheartedly believes it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to protect Australia’s most precious environmental assets. Malcolm Turnbull on the other, hand has such little regard for Australia’s environmental values he’s throwing away this responsibility through his policy to delegate matters of national environmental significance to State and local governments.

Labor will ensure the gas industry operates to the highest environmental standards and will ensure full assessment and management of environmental and other impacts, including on water reserves and co-existence with other agricultural activities.

Labor is the only Party that will take action to ensure new shale and tight formation gas projects are environmentally safe and sustainable with rigorous science-based assessments. That is the only way we can manage environmental impacts and ensure sustainable local economic development.