2016-10-20
Greens MLC Lynn MacLaren says the Barnett Government has revealed a cowboy attitude to public health by ordering the government agency charged with regulating pollution now only required to report on how quickly it approves development.
“The Department of Environmental Regulation has dropped all performance indicators in its annual reporting for how often air quality and other environmental standards are breached and replaced them with KPI’s that only rate how quickly the Department has signed off on applications for resources projects and other developments and to clear native vegetation,” Ms MacLaren said.
“This is not only blatant disregard for environment by an environmental regulator; it shows a prioritising of corporate interests over ensuring the health and safety of people and communities who can be harmed by environmental pollution.
“I note the Auditor-General took the unusual step of criticising the Department’s new direction and KPI’s in his section of the annual report, yet his comments apparently fell on deaf ears, with the DER Director-General giving no concession or guarantee in his published response that reporting of exceedences of National Environment Protection Measures for air quality or other reporting against environmental criteria would be reinstated as performance indicators.
“The Greens call on this Government and any contenders to reinstate vigorous environmental health and air quality monitoring and reporting measures.
“For the public to be confident that this Department is serious about its stated mission to ‘advise on and implement strategies for a healthy environment for all Western Australians’ annual reporting on environmental health is a must.
“The focus of the current KPI’s on how quickly the Department can approve development confirms a deeply worrying shift by this agency towards being rubber stamp for development. It helps explain why this Department has been repeatedly exposed in recent years giving poor advice on proposed development, for example, Eric Singleton Reserve in Bayswater and a proposal for an inappropriately located landfill facility in the Wheatbelt.
"The worst case scenario is that the health of a vulnerable person or community will be hurt by the Department’s switch in focus away from how well it monitors and regulates pollution.
“If the Department whose primary task is to keep us safe from environmental harm isn’t making this job its top priority, then none of us can feel confident that our health and safety is taken care of.”