Queensland’s environment minister, Meaghan Scanlon, said the commonwealth must respond fully to the Samuel review, including introducing strong national environmental standards, before the state would seriously discuss taking on approval powers.
Speaking at a forum of conservationists on Wednesday night, Scanlon said she had written to her federal environment counterpart, Sussan Ley, urging her to respond to all 38 of Samuel’s recommendations.
“The Samuel review says those recommendations should not be cherry-picked, but that is exactly what the commonwealth has done,” Scanlon said. “A number of things need to be ticked off before we enter any genuine negotiations on behalf of the state.”