Meanwhile, we knew this was happening, but the Albanese government has officially moved to discharge its nature positive laws from the senate notice paper (which means the government has given up on having them passed and so is shelving them).

The government could have worked with the Greens, but doesn’t want to, mostly because WA and other mining interests were gearing up to run anti-Labor campaigns at the coming election and Labor is trying to hold on to what it can in WA (where so far, its vote is holding up ok, unlike the rest of the country where the mood is slipping – but not, it should be made clear, into what the vibe was when Morrison was turfed. Albanese isn’t popular, but he isn’t hated and Dutton is seen as kinda meh as well, so mostly people are fed up with major party politicians.)

The Coalition don’t want to work with the government, because it suits the Coalition not to work on these issues, even though Liberal senator Jane Hume was on radio this morning talking about how 95% of legislation is passed with bipartisan support.

So the government is officially shelving the legislation. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has responded:

“The Labor Party has abandoned the environment and sent a message to voters everywhere that they cannot be trusted to protect nature.

“What a shocking lack of leadership from the Albanese Government. Last week, these bills were listed on the draft Senate schedule but just days later it is again clear that it’s the mining lobby and the likes of Gina Rinehart who are calling the shots on what happens in this parliament. 

“This is a stunning capitulation to vested interests in the mining and logging lobby. Rather than work with the Greens to get an outcome to protect our environment and end native forest logging, the Prime Minister is letting the fossil fuel and logging lobby dictate Labor’s policy.

“Labor is now on a unity ticket with the environment-wrecking Liberal Party.

“This is not just a broken promise by the Albanese Labor Government, it sounds the death knell for our iconic koalas, native forests and the climate.

“The PM has bulldozed his own environment policy, leaving Labor with nothing to show but three years of broken promises. “