The Albanese Labor Government has once again used their super majority in the House of Representatives to arrogantly gag debate.
This time, on the important and complex Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act legislative reform package of 1,459 pages.
TOM CONNELL:
Joining me now is Shadow Environment Minister Angie Bell, who’s been combing through this Bill. Thank you for your time. So, you’re not supporting the laws as they stand. Going through a few of your points that you’ve made. So, you say there’s no improvement.
The Bill does talk about avoiding duplication in terms of having the approval powers at state, not federal level. That would be an improvement, wouldn’t it, in terms of duplication, which a lot of people complain about?
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Angie Bell is the Shadow Environment Minister. She joins me now. Welcome.
ANGIE BELL:
Great to be with you, PK.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
If Roger Cook, who is not exactly a greenie, I think it’s fair to say, says pass the laws, why shouldn’t you?
I had the great pleasure of hosting the Leader of the Opposition when she visited my electorate of Moncrieff last week. One of the standouts of her visit was introducing the leader to exceptional young leaders at Merrimac State High School. It’s a beautiful school that I have the privilege of visiting regularly. It’s not far from my home. It’s one of the 34 schools in the electorate of Moncrieff, and I love all of them.
I rise to speak on the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, the first of seven bills, which will now be considered separately, on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. As I’ve said from the very start of this process, when I became the shadow minister for the environment, environmental reform is too important to get wrong. I speak to mainstream Australians about this, about the things that impact them, and there are many things wrong with this reform from those opposite.
Today in the House of Representatives, Labor moved to squash debate on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act reform Bills.
The reform consists of seven Bills, each individually introduced and spoken to by Labor in the House on Thursday, 30 October 2025.
We’re very happy on this side that the beard’s gone. Australia is the best country in the world, with the most iconic flora and fauna. Our ecosystem is unique and must be protected, but it seems to be going backwards under this government.
The latest victim of the Labor Government has come in the form of the Christmas Island Shrew – Australia’s 39th extinction as declared by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
This 39th national extinction comes after former Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek’s international commitment to prevent extinctions under the Albanese Labor Government.
Shadow Minister for the Environment and Youth, Angie Bell has called this a monumental government failing.
ANDREW CLENNELL:
Joining me live now is Shadow Environment Minister Angie Bell. Thanks for your time Angie Bell. Let’s start with what’s about to happen in terms of the Coalition’s stance on climate policy. What do you make of the National Party document I just revealed recommending dumping net zero and making prices the priority and only reducing emissions at the speed of comparable nations? What do you think of that proposal?
ANGIE BELL:
Well, I certainly think the most important thing for Australians is energy prices. And I just heard Sam Rae that, you know, he’s putting downward pressure on energy prices. I mean, can Sam Rae go back and just explain that to the Australian people who now know, categorically, that renewables are not the cheapest form of energy when they’re paying so much for their energy bills, Andrew. In terms of the National Party, well, they have their processes and we’re going through our processes as you know, and we’ll come to our position on energy and emissions policy in due course.
ANGIE BELL:
Good afternoon, everyone. We’ve seen Minister Watt deliver his National Press Club address, and there’s a few things I would like to talk about from that. And one is he talked about an inflated bureaucracy, and that he’s not a fan of inflated bureaucracy, but what he’s doing is putting an EPA in place that will balloon out the public service, and he couldn’t answer the question on exactly how many new staff would be in that EPA. He also talked about indigenous engagement, yet the Minister actually forgot to engage with indigenous people, as we heard on the ABC this morning. That was reported.