Doubt continues about Queensland Government intentions to establish an “independent environmental protection agency,“ including concerns about its role in vetting development plans over much of Gympie region.
Although potentially exercising enormous power over Queenslanders and their future, the establishment of such a body appears to be proceeding with little public input and still unresolved concerns about its public and political accountability.
The exact nature of the “independence“ of such a body was still undecided, Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon told state parliament last week, indicating it did not mean absolute power over every environmental aspect of our lives and emphasising that different proposals involved varying degrees of accountability.
But that remained the tricky bit, she said.
“The term ‘independent’ is a complex part of the investigation and consultation activities,“ the Minister said earlier this year.
“There are different models for establishing an independent environmental regulator, a variety of ways that independence interacts with transparency and accountability, and diverse views and perceptions about how it all translates into an operational environment,“ she said.
There may also be concern that the “independent“ EPA is being structured according to alternatives researched and advanced by the Department of Environment and Science, which was itself originally called the EPA and which has often been criticised for exercising too much “independence“ and not enough “accountability.“
Controversial development plans currently under consideration and likely to fall within the remit of such a body include proposals to build “eco-tourism“ units in national parks at Double Island Point and Lake Poona, near Rainbow Beach.
Those proposed developments appear to have strong support within the DES., which has attracted criticism of its own management of processes which it has called public consultation, but which many say have been less than consultative.
Concerns about “independence“ have also included environmental standards widely seen as inconsistent.
State bureaucracies with environmental responsibilities have included the one which backed land-based disposal of raw sewage near the Mary River at Lower Wonga, while also administering strict quality requirements on Gympie’s much more benign sewerage treatment plant at Widgee Crossing.
The organisation which threatened to prosecute Cooloola Shire Council for attempting to impound drought-related emergency releases of water from Baroon Pocket so Gympie would not run out of drinking water, only a short time later provided strong support for the Traveston Crossing Dam, which would have blocked the river altogether.
Ms Scanlon last week acknowledged some of the dilemmas when responding to a question from Noosa MP Sandy Bolton.
Ms Bolton called for the government to “urgently establish the independent environmental protection agency“ with the necessary enforcement powers “taking into account public health and social impacts caused by inappropriate activities that are devastating our communities, economies, environment and infrastructure.“
Ms Scanlon said the government had conducted “some preliminary consultation,“ including “targeted consultation discussion paper, which we received in July.“
The DES was now “reviewing that feedback,“ she said.
“That is largely about what the structure of an independent EPA would look like rather than the actual environmental protection laws.“
