Mr Giles said there had been far too much “secrecy and uncertainty” around a rewrite of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
The former Northern Territory chief minister said the consultation process had been conducted largely in Canberra under draconian conditions that restricted access to phones and laptops.
“The review process on the EPBC based on the nature of positive concept has been shrouded in secrecy. It’s a select group of handpicked stakeholders who are allowed to join in after they’ve signed their rights away,” he said.
“So the average farmer in Australia, the miners and anyone else funding development has no idea of what the federal government is doing.
“And they (miner, farmers and others) are in danger of being saddled with some sort of overarching political motivated process that’s designed to get votes for Labor at the next election and offset the Greens vote.”
A final round of confidential consultations is scheduled to take place before the end of March, but government sources suggest the new laws will not be introduced to parliament for some time and may be delayed until next year.
Big miners fear the changes to add another level of complexity to already onerous environmental approval processes, but have been unwilling to publicly criticise the government.
The proposed changes follow a review by former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel, with the government moving to create a stand-alone Environmental Protection Agency and create new standards on protecting indigenous heritage.
The Hancock camp argues the government’s nature positive agenda and other changes in the pipeline go way beyond the findings of the Samuel review.
Mrs Rinehart first raised the alarm last year, quoting research showing the number of restrictions in the EPBC Act had grown by more than 440 per cent since it was introduced more than 20 years ago.
Australia richest person said the changes being contemplated by the government would involve “the biggest environmental related expansion since that Act was created”.
Mr Giles said Hancock Agriculture had gone “hell for leather” to make infrastructure upgrades on its farms and cattle stations before the introduction of WA’s revised Indigenous heritage laws last year and would take a similar approach to avoid delays caused by any new environmental laws.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings