WA Premier Mark McGowan has jumped on board the Prime Minister’s plans to fast track environmental approvals for resource projects.
In his recent speech at the Business Council of Australia annual dinner on November 21, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said environmental approval processes for major projects are overly complex, duplicative and they take too long.
“We will partner with the Western Australian Government to develop a system that will reduce approvals times, allow project proponents to submit a single application via a single online portal, track its progress and access a database of biodiversity studies relevant to their project,” Mr Morrison said.
“It takes approximately three and a half years for a complex major project to navigate the State and Commonwealth environmental assessment process.
“It’s estimated that this time-frame could be reduced by between six and 18 months.”
The WA State Government is all for it, with Mr McGowan putting forth the proposed Environmental Approvals Bilateral Agreement to the Commonwealth – which would allow WA to be accredited to conduct the assessment and issue a single approval for projects.
Mr McGowan said that industry has been crying out for bilateral approvals.
“This plan ensures we maintain the highest environmental standards, but don’t get bogged down in bureaucracy,” he said.
“Signing this agreement would complement the recent co-operative work by the State and Federal Governments to streamline the way we do business.”
The goal is to smooth the way for billions of dollars’ worth of new [and vital] job-creating projects.
“Western Australia is on the cusp of a new era in large-scale resources projects, including the Browse and Scarborough developments, which will deliver a pipeline of jobs into the future,” Mr McGowan said.
“We need to do everything we can to speed up approvals and bring on these new jobs as a matter of urgency.”
The agreement would also require no additional legislative change under current WA and Federal legislation and would be supported by $3m set aside to fund 14 additional support staff to assist the EPA manage the steep increase in major projects requiring assessment and new growth for WA.
Environment Minister Stephen Dawson said the agreement would both support the economy and ensure the State’s environment is protected.
“I urge the Commonwealth to establish an environmental approvals bilateral agreement,” Mr Dawson said.
“By improving transparency, consistency and timeliness of environmental approvals, the McGowan Government’s latest reforms are a genuine win-win for the environment.
“With better systems, improved legislation and extra resources for our environmental agencies, the Government is serious about making it easier to do business in WA and it’s great to see our Commonwealth counterparts recognise and support our initiatives.”
