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Environment
Greens (WA) Detailed Policy 2000There is an urgent need to restore balance between human society and the Earth's environment. Our human activities cause serious ecological disruption, threatening the existence of huge numbers of species and the quality of life of present and future generations. The degree of environmental impact depends on population size, the level of consumption and the types of technology used. The Greens (WA) are committed to tackling all these areas in an integrated way to develop social, economic and industrial systems that are genuinely sustainable.
Specific Policies
The Greens (WA) will support legislation and actions that:
initiate a new, thorough, and independent review of the Environmental Protection Act ;
conduct a review of the performance and operations of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP);
restore the primacy of the Environmental Protection Act and amend the Act to:
define land use planning;
define environmental degradation as a form of pollution; and
halt development while environmental assessment is being conducted.
establish a stronger presence for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in regional centres including the Mid West and the Kimberley.
provide adequate funding for the EPA to carry out its own assessments and policy development;
set up an independent Agricultural Bio-Regional Commission to develop a comprehensive, statewide policy on land clearing and rural conservation based on ecological sustainability;
ensure the costs of controlling salinity are borne by the whole community;
immediately halt the logging of all old growth forests and other high conservation value forests and place them in secure conservation reserves protected from mining and logging;
ensure that logging occurs on a minimum rotation of 300 years in native forest where timber extraction is permitted;
develop a sustainable timber industry based on plantation and agroforestry timbers grown on previously cleared land;
require industry licences to demonstrate use of world best technology for treatment of emissions and programs for environmental audits;
ensure that the polluter pays principle is followed by the way of mechanisms such as insurance and/or bonds;
develop a Western Australian strategy for achieving major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions;
promote resource efficiency to reduce the use of energy, water and raw materials;
establish a Commission to oversee land use planning and land transport management to promote alternatives to private cars and to bring workplaces and commercial centres within walking and cycling range of residences and communities;
redirect funding from roads to rail for freight in rural areas, where appropriate, to protect roads from further damage by trucks and encourage the use of rail in lieu of road trains for freight transport;
investigate the greater use of coastal shipping for freight, in view of the damage caused to roads by road trains;
develop cleaner, renewable energy sources, including solar power and wind generation;
amend the Environmental Protection Act to require the assessment of Greenhouse emissions and energy efficiencies of major developments;
implement the immediate clean-up of all contaminated sites that are a threat to health and groundwater;
prohibit all uranium mining;
prohibit the burial of high level nuclear waste in any location;
prohibit the movement and/or transportation of any reprocessed nuclear material or nuclear waste through Western Australia or around our coasts;
manage the total water cycle according to the principles of ecologically sustainable development and preserve biological diversity and ecological integrity of all water based ecosystems;
ensure that all proposals for development in the coastal zone are subject to formal environmental impact assessment with public input and community consultation;
legislate for more stringent environmental assessment and conditions for developments in coastal areas and near wetlands, particularly in reference to sewage and runoff;
manage land use to prevent surface and groundwater pollution;
ensure that the principle of "unsafe until proven otherwise" be applied to the release of genetically altered organisms to the environment;
adequately finance the Customs Department in order to stop the importation of any flora or fauna or plant and animal products from interstate or overseas that might infect pristine Western Australian stock;
oppose research into herbicide resistance in plants on the grounds that it encourages the continued use of pesticides and herbicides and that it is ecologically damaging and can create weeds, insects and viruses which are resistant to known controls;
support Western Australia remaining GE free;
provide Government support to local councils to introduce comprehensive recycling programs for householders and small business; and
legislate for environmental and social reports that examine the true state of the nation and not just the Gross National Product.
What The Greens (WA) have done
supported and resourced community action groups;
Greens (WA) MLCs have taken a leading role in statewide debates on GE;
harnessed community support for the Albany Wind Farm;
provided support to the plantation industry to become more greenhouse friendly;
opposed all further land clearing;
Dr Chrissy Sharp (MLC) chaired the inquiry into the sustainability of current logging; and
Giz Watson (MLC) has introduced a Nuclear Activities (Prohibition) Bill into Parliament.
Background
Many of the resources on which our society presently depends, such as oil, coal and minerals, are non-renewable. Our consumption of these resources must be minimised. Resource efficiency with new technologies and practices can provide products and services using far less materials, land, energy and water in their production and use. Such resource efficiency reduces both pollution and the consumption of resources.
Other resources such as our forests, oceans, freshwater and soils are currently not being managed sustainably. Extraction needs to be reduced to match their capacity to renew. The forests of the South West are not being managed in an ecologically sustainable way. The majority of Western Australians are opposed to the clearfelling and woodchipping of native forests.
Our society produces too much rubbish. Continual dumping of rubbish in landfill causes many problems including groundwater pollution, production of greenhouse gases and the waste of resources. We can realistically reuse and recycle up to 90% of our waste with current technology.
Sustainable energy sources such as solar power, wind power, tidal power and wave power should be actively investigated and governments should encourage and subsidise their use.
Where the impact of a management practice is not known, the precautionary principle must be followed and the practice should not be carried out. This contrasts with the current approach of hoping that practices will turn out to be sustainable. This is particularly relevant to ocean management and chemical usage.
Past and present land use practices for pastoral and broadacre farming have had huge environmental impacts including soil loss, rising salinity, the endangering of many native species, and a massive decline in water quality in streams, rivers and estuaries. It is estimated that up to 30% of Western Australia's agricultural region may become saline. The government and the community as a whole must seriously address this issue and work towards saving those areas that could become productive farmlands with better management practices, and returning to bushland those areas which are unsuitable for agriculture.
Pollution continues to be a major problem in our cities, industrial areas, waterways and oceans. Air and water pollution have been exacerbated by bad planning and low or non existent standards. Governments should actively encourage the widespread use of zero pollution or low pollution technologies.
The Greens (WA) totally reject nuclear power as an alternate solution to greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions during plant construction and fuel processing are too high, and other environmental contaminations and risks are too great.
Australia is one of the few countries that have biological mega-diversity and has a unique, global responsibility to conserve this heritage.
