The secret review that underpinned the WA government’s attack on nature protection laws has been released in full after the government lost a 13-month battle to keep it suppressed following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from the Conservation Council of WA.
The FOI release today shows that the Vogel McFerran Review, which was announced by the WA government on 26 October 2023 as a “short, sharp review” and led to the most significant overhaul of WA’s nature laws in a generation, was submitted to the government by its authors Dr Paul Vogel and David McFerran on 3 November 2023 - just 6 business days later.
This rapid timeframe is reflected in the lack of detail or analysis in the review, which characterises itself as “non-legal” but has been the impetus for some of the most substantive legislative changes to the EP Act in recent history.
There are almost no references to sources for its content, no citations of other research and, where the review relies on information or views from stakeholders, no references or quotes as to the source of those views.
The full Vogel McFerran Review runs only 43 pages long, and does not contain a reference list - one of the only sources, in a lone citation in the section on Environmental Impact Assessments, is a 3-page pamphlet of an international association of bureaucrats from 1999.
The Review appears to be based on the impressions of the reviewers from personal experience and speaking with industry stakeholders, and the terms of reference for the review confirm that there was no focus or consideration of environmental outcomes, which should have been a priority when considering changes to environmental legislation.
The Information Commissioner also stated that the FOI request was wrongly transferred to WA Environment Minister Reece Whitby by the Department for Water and Environmental Regulation, and that Minister Whitby should not have accepted the transfer.
This review further calls into question the WA government’s self-appointed role as the arbiter of national environmental law reforms - which are repeatedly referenced by this review, which seems to premise its recommendations on an assumption about the implementation of Nature Positive and a national Environment Protection Authority.
Mia Pepper, the Campaigns Director at the Conservation Council of WA, said today:
“After working for 13 months trying to suppress the document, the WA government has been forced to release the full Vogel McFerran Review.
“The Vogel McFerran Review was submitted just eight days after the Cook government announced the review.
“It is shocking to see the flimsy basis on which the government made significant changes to our environmental laws and policies.
“This review shows the WA government is completely unfit to lobby the federal government on nature laws when their own process was such a complete amateur hour.
“The Vogel McFerran Review shows the WA community were right to be concerned when it appeared from media coverage that this process didn’t pass the pub test.
“Concerns that the review failed entirely to consider perspectives outside industry and proponents have now been confirmed.
“The release of the full Vogel McFerran Review confirms widely ventilated concerns about the consultation process behind wide-ranging reforms that have substantially weakened WA’s nature laws in order to fast-track industrial approvals, with no list or record of which stakeholders were consulted.
“Although it maintains secrecy over exactly who were consulted, the perspectives outlined in the review are proponents disgruntled with perceived hold-ups in assessments.”
“If this was a university assignment completed just before deadline, it’s unlikely it would pass. It’s astonishing and appalling that this is the standard the WA government accepts to inform a major attack on the ‘thin green line’ that is in place to protect our environment.
“WA’s environment is in crisis, with Ningaloo currently embroiled in a coral bleaching emergency. We’re calling on the next State government to take a good look at our laws and how we deliver real outcomes for the environment and we’re looking forward to being part of those conversations.”
The Environmental Defenders Office helped CCWA prepare its FOI application and navigate the state’s FOI appeal processes to ensure public rights to government information were upheld.
Jess Border, the Managing Lawyer WA at the Environmental Defenders Office, said:
“Access to government information is an essential part of any healthy democracy, so it is deeply troubling that it took the WA Government 13 months to release this document.
“Delaying access to information that citizens need to participate in environmental decision-making undermines public confidence in government.
“The biggest changes to WA’s environmental laws in a generation have been based on what appears to be a week-long, non-legal review that lacked any engagement with environmental groups.
“To be effective, environmental law reform must be based on community and expert consultation.
“Lack of transparency in the consultation process undermines public confidence in government policy making, which is not in the best interests of the government or the community it is elected to serve.”
ENDS
Download the Vogel McFerran Review here
Download the Positive Reform Agenda for Nature here
CONTACT: For any enquiries relating to this release please contact 0401 233 965 or by email on [email protected]
MEDIA INFORMATION: The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) is the state’s foremost non-profit, non-government conservation organisation representing nearly 100 environmental organisations across Western Australia.