Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

The majority voted in favour of a motion at the request of Tasmanian Senator Jonathon Duniam (Liberal), which means it succeeded.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment and Water has failed to comply with order for the production of documents no. 746, agreed to on 5 February 2025, relating to correspondence with Senators Hanson-Young and David Pocock on the Government's Nature Positive bills,

(ii) in a response from the Government, dated 11 February 2025, the Minister for the Environment and Water (Ms Plibersek) has written that 'I need time to seek advice on the text of the documents to determine whether I assert public interest immunity', noting there is no date specified by which such advice will be received, and

(iii) there is no valid public interest immunity claim that can be made by the Government in relation to order no. 746; and

(b) the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment and Water be required to attend the Senate at the conclusion of question time on 13 February 2025 to provide an explanation of the failure to comply with the orders, and that:

(i) any senator may move to take note of the explanation, and

(ii) any such motion may be debated for no longer than 30 minutes, shall have precedence over all other business until determined, and senators may speak to the motion for not more than 5 minutes each.