( please subscribe to this blog for updates and comment – DIGGs, Twitters etc WILL help, so please click away )
Well done to the Sunday Times’ Narelle Towie for covering what’s going to be a MASSIVE story when WA people realise what it means.
March 21, 2009 06:00pm
A massive overhaul of how mining and other development applications are assessed in WA is revealed in confidential documents obtained by The Sunday Times.
Far-reaching recommendations by a special committee include a proposal to transfer Environment Minister Donna Faragher’s powers to Mining and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore and the Premier.
If adopted, major and contentious developments might go ahead without needing approval from the Environment Minister.
The document has been compiled by an industry working group set up by Mr Moore, to help streamline and speed up exploration and development approval processes.
The final draft, leaked this week to The Sunday Times, will be handed to Mr Moore for submission to Cabinet next month.
After being shown the report by this newspaper, Opposition environment spokeswoman Sally Talbot labelled the proposals “a catastrophe pushing environmental legislation back to how it was in the ’70s”.
A shocked and outraged Ms Talbot said: “This is about development at any cost.”
She said it cut Ms Faragher out of the process and put all mining and exploration into the hands of Mr Moore and Mr Barnett, who is also the State Development Minister.
Under the proposals any projects with a capital investment of $50 million or a permanent work force of 50 would be labelled a “major project” and determined by the Premier instead of the Ms Faragher.
The Premier would only have to consult the minister.
Greens MLC Robin Chapple said such moves would clear the way for speedy approval of highly controversial developments such as the Kimberley LNG hub and uranium mining.
“It is basically putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank,” he said.
Among the responsibilities that would be stripped from the Environment Minister and her department would be the management of waste and contaminated sites, control of pollution restrictions and her statutory right to approve or decline development projects.
Large parts of the Department of Environment and Conservation’s role would be transferred to the Environment Protection Authority, which is an advisory body.
The industry working group has suggested the public’s right to appeal against assessment levels set by the EPA be removed.
Conservation Council director Piers Verstegen said the document was extremely concerning.
THE economy will override environmental considerations and the role of environment minister will be downgraded in changes being considered by the Government.
Filed under: activism, ANAWA, australia, blog, blogger, blogging, blogosphere, business-economics-and-finance, CCWA, climate change, colin barnett, conservation, contamination, education, environment, global warming, google search, greens, greens WA, half-life, health legislation, human rights, Jo Vallentine, life, lobbyist, make a difference, media, newspapers, nuclear energy, nuclear power, nuclear-issues, perth, politics, press, protest, public health, public safety, robin chapple, scott ludlum, social justice, transport safety, twitter, uranium, uranium mining, veranus island disaster, views, web campaign, west australia, western australia, woodside, world heritage, WWF, yellowcake, YouTube | Tagged: activism, ANAWA, australia, blog, blogger, blogging, blogosphere, business-economics-and-finance, CCWA, climate change, colin barnett, conservation, contamination, education, environment, global warming, google search, greens, greens WA, half-life, health legislation, human rights, Jo Vallentine, life, lobbyist, make a difference, media, narelle towie, newspapers, nuclear energy, nuclear power, nuclear-issues, perth, perthnow, politics, press, protest, public health, public safety, robin chapple, scott ludlum, social justice, sunday times, transport safety, twitter, uranium, uranium mining, veranus island disaster, views, web campaign, west australia, western australia, woodside, world heritage, WWF, yellowcake, YouTube | Leave a comment »
No Uranium Mining in West Australia 