The Greens are calling on Environment Minister Sussan Ley to immediately release the interim report into Australia’s environment laws handed to her a week ago by the independent reviewer.
Greens Spokesperson for the Environment Senator Sarah Hanson-Young who successfully moved an order in the Senate for the interim report to be released by today at the latest, said:
“The Environment Minister has sat on the interim report into Australia’s environment laws for a week already and then today tried to claim releasing it would reveal Cabinet deliberations. This is a pathetic excuse for keeping it hidden from the public.
“The 10-year statutory review into the EPBC Act is supposed to be independent of government and therefore any interim report cannot possibly reveal Cabinet deliberations.
“The Minister was handed the interim report a week ago, there is no excuse for holding onto it any longer, it should be released immediately in full.
“Graeme Samuel who is leading the review has said he intends to consult on the interim report yet he cannot do that if the community and stakeholders are unable to even see it.
“The Auditor-General’s assessment of the government’s management of the environment and our wildlife, released last month, was scathing.
“The Environment Minister and the Federal Department have failed to protect the environment and are, simply put, incompetent. Refusing to release the interim report suggests it highlights further ineptitude and failures by the government which they are trying to cover up.”
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