Summary

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The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree with the main idea of the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bill for a second time. This means the bill can now be discussed in more detail.

What does this bill do?

Due to the speed with which the bill is moving through Parliament, there are no parliamentary library summaries available on what the bill does. We only have the explanatory memorandum, which is a Government-produced document and therefore politically biased. According to the memorandum:

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Streamlining Environmental Approvals) Bill 2020 (the Bill) facilitates the legally robust devolution of environmental approvals to the States and Territories.

The Act already provides for devolution of environmental assessments and approvals through bilateral agreements with the States and Territories. Bilateral agreements avoid regulatory duplication by creating a single environmental assessment and approval process for nationally protected matters. The two types of bilateral agreements provided for under the Act are:

  • Assessment bilateral agreements - a State or Territory is accredited to assess the environmental impacts of project proposals on behalf of the Commonwealth, which is then used by the Commonwealth to decide whether or not to approve a project.

  • Approval bilateral agreements - a State or Territory is accredited to assess and approve or refuse to approve project proposals.

The Bill will make technical amendments to the existing provisions of the Act relating to bilateral agreements to support the efficient, effective and enduring operation of bilateral agreements.

In other words, the main aim of the bill is to give greater environmental approval powers to the states and territories rather than the federal government. Researchers and environmental groups are concerned that this will further weaken protections.

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Adam Bandt Melbourne Australian Greens Absent
Australian Labor Party (49% turnout) 0 Yes 33 No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler No
Anne Aly Cowan No
Chris Bowen McMahon No
Tony Burke Watson No
Linda Burney Barton No
Mark Butler Hindmarsh No
Terri Butler Griffith No
Lisa Chesters Bendigo No
Julie Collins Franklin No
Pat Conroy Shortland No
Milton Dick Oxley No
Mike Freelander Macarthur No
Andrew Giles Scullin No
Patrick Gorman Perth No
Luke Gosling Solomon No
Chris Hayes Fowler No
Julian Hill Bruce No
Ed Husic Chifley No
Stephen Jones Whitlam No
Matt Keogh Burt No
Madeleine King Brand No
Andrew Leigh Fenner No
Kristy McBain Eden-Monaro No
Emma McBride Dobell No
Brian Mitchell Lyons No
Brendan O'Connor Gorton No
Fiona Phillips Gilmore No
Amanda Rishworth Kingston No
David Smith Bean No
Warren Snowdon Lingiari No
Anne Stanley Werriwa No
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith No
Tony Zappia Makin No
Sharon Bird Cunningham Absent
Josh Burns Macnamara Absent
Anthony Byrne Holt Absent
Jim Chalmers Rankin Absent
Nick Champion Spence Absent
Jason Clare Blaxland Absent
Sharon Claydon Newcastle Absent
Libby Coker Corangamite Absent
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs Absent
Justine Elliot Richmond Absent
Joel Fitzgibbon Hunter Absent
Steve Georganas Adelaide Absent
Ged Kearney Cooper Absent
Peter Khalil Wills Absent
Catherine King Ballarat Absent
Richard Marles Corio Absent
Rob Mitchell McEwen Absent
Daniel Mulino Fraser Absent
Peta Murphy Dunkley Absent
Shayne Neumann Blair Absent
Clare O'Neil Hotham Absent
Julie Owens Parramatta Absent
Alicia Payne Canberra Absent
Graham Perrett Moreton Absent
Tanya Plibersek Sydney Absent
Michelle Rowland Greenway Absent
Joanne Ryan Lalor Absent
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong Absent
Meryl Swanson Paterson Absent
Susan Templeman Macquarie Absent
Kate Thwaites Jagajaga Absent
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell Absent
Tim Watts Gellibrand Absent
Anika Wells Lilley Absent
Josh Wilson Fremantle Absent
Rebekha Sharkie Mayo Centre Alliance No
Mark Coulton Parkes Deputy Speaker Yes
Helen Haines Indi Independent No
Zali Steggall Warringah Independent No
Andrew Wilkie Clark Independent Absent
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Absent
Liberal National Party (25% turnout) 1 Yes 0 No
Julian Simmonds Ryan Yes
Angie Bell Moncrieff Absent
Phillip Thompson Herbert Absent
Terry Young Longman Absent
Liberal Party (57% turnout) 32 Yes 0 No
Katie Allen Higgins Yes
Karen Andrews McPherson Yes
Bridget Archer Bass Yes
Vince Connelly Stirling Yes
Peter Dutton Dickson Yes
Jason Falinski Mackellar Yes
Paul Fletcher Bradfield Yes
Nicolle Flint Boothby Yes
Josh Frydenberg Kooyong Yes
Ian Goodenough Moore Yes
Celia Hammond Curtin Yes
Alex Hawke Mitchell Yes
Greg Hunt Flinders Yes
Craig Kelly Hughes Yes
Sussan Ley Farrer Yes
Fiona Martin Reid Yes
Scott Morrison Cook Yes
Tony Pasin Barker Yes
Christian Porter Pearce Yes
Melissa Price Durack Yes
Rowan Ramsey Grey Yes
Stuart Robert Fadden Yes
Dave Sharma Wentworth Yes
James Stevens Sturt Yes
Michael Sukkar Deakin Yes
Angus Taylor Hume Yes
Dan Tehan Wannon Yes
Alan Tudge Aston Yes
Bert Van Manen Forde Yes
Andrew Wallace Fisher Yes
Ken Wyatt Hasluck Yes
Trent Zimmerman North Sydney Yes
John Alexander Bennelong Absent
Kevin Andrews Menzies Absent
Russell Broadbent Monash Absent
Scott Buchholz Wright Absent
David Coleman Banks Absent
Warren Entsch Leichhardt Absent
Trevor Evans Brisbane Absent
Andrew Hastie Canning Absent
Luke Howarth Petrie Absent
Steve Irons Swan Absent
Andrew Laming Bowman Absent
Julian Leeser Berowra Absent
Gladys Liu Chisholm Absent
Nola Marino Forrest Absent
Melissa McIntosh Lindsay Absent
John McVeigh Groom Absent
Ben Morton Tangney Absent
Ted O'Brien Fairfax Absent
Gavin Pearce Braddon Absent
Ross Vasta Bonner Absent
Lucy Wicks Robertson Absent
Rick Wilson O'Connor Absent
Tim Wilson Goldstein Absent
Jason Wood La Trobe Absent
National Party (47% turnout) 7 Yes 0 No
Pat Conaghan Cowper Yes
Andrew Gee Calare Yes
David Littleproud Maranoa Yes
Michael McCormack Riverina Yes
Ken O'Dowd Flynn Yes
Keith Pitt Hinkler Yes
Anne Webster Mallee Yes
Darren Chester Gippsland Absent
George Christensen Dawson Absent
Damian Drum Nicholls Absent
David Gillespie Lyne Absent
Kevin Hogan Page Absent
Barnaby Joyce New England Absent
Michelle Landry Capricornia Absent
Llew O'Brien Wide Bay Absent
Tony Smith Casey Speaker Absent
Totals (51% turnout) 41 Yes – 36 No