Call a Labor Minister: Strong EPA without delay!

Mining lobbyists have swarmed to Federal Parliament for ‘Minerals Week’ with one big goal: Convince the Labor Government and Peter Dutton’s Coalition to do a deal to gut the new Environment Protection Australia (EPA).

A strong EPA would wield real powers to crack down on big corporations breaking nature laws. It’d disrupt the fossil fuel industry's nature-wrecking business-as-usual – and they're hellbent on stopping it.

With these laws in parliament NOW, call a Labor Cabinet Minister today to pass on this simple message:

  • Work with the Greens and crossbench to pass strong EPA laws, with new measures to stop forest destruction and climate harm.
  • Don’t bow to the fossil fuel industry by delaying these laws or doing a deal with the Coalition that delivers a weak EPA

The Albanese Government must choose the right path for nature, and not bow to pressure from the mining lobby to weaken or even abandon their promised reforms. 

The Greens, Senator David Pocock and Senator Lidia Thorpe are willing to work with Labor to pass strong EPA legislation – with new measures to stop forest destruction and climate harm, and embed First Nations’ voices in decision-making.

The pathway for Labor is clear. Urge key Labor ministers to take it with a quick call now.

What to expect:

  • Offices usually take calls during business hours, 9am-5pm. Outside of these hours, you might be able to leave a message.
  • The Minister themself won’t pick up the phone – you’ll speak to a member of their staff.
  • Briefly introduce yourself, and say you have a message that you want passed onto the Minister.
  • They’ll be polite and will keep a record of the content of your call.
  • It won’t be a long phone call, so keep your message simple and clear.
  • They probably won’t have a substantive response to your issue. They'll just be there to note it down and thank you for the call.
  • With lots of people calling at once, if you can't get through to one office, try another!

Why these Ministers?

Richard Marles (Deputy Prime Minister), Jim Chalmers (Treasurer) and Patrick Gorman (Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) are all influential cabinet members who the Prime Minister listens to. The mining industry is lobbying the Prime Minister hard, but his office isn’t taking calls from community members outside his electorate.

We must sway the influential voices around the PM to deliver strong nature laws.

Other talking points:

  • If the staffer says this message should be directed to the Environment Minister’s office, politely remind them that all cabinet ministers have influence over the negotiation of Labor’s nature laws.
  • The Prime Minister has said he is open to watering down the EPA, comments that have been applauded by the mining lobby. Australian communities don’t accept putting the interests of mining executives ahead of the health of nature and people.