Prime Minister Anthony Albanese forced to defend Tanya Plibersek over Nature Positive laws

The Greens will continue to push for some form of “climate trigger” despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ruling it out, creating a political stalemate that could torpedo a centrepiece of Labor’s Nature Positive Plan.

The Greens decision to dig in on the controversial demand threatens to prolong the internal battle between Mr Albanese and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, as the pair continue to send mixed signals about a potential deal with the left-wing party.

Mr Albanese hardened his criticism of the Greens’ “climate trigger” in a speech to the Business Council of Australia on Tuesday night, describing it as an unnecessary “gesture-based climate amendment”.

If Labor isn’t prepared to deal with the Greens then the EPA could collapse, given the Coalition remains unlikely to support it.

The laws to establish a new Environment Protection Agency (EPA) are listed in the Senate on Wednesday — a week after being pulled following a major backlash from business.

However, a draft program circulated on Tuesday night showed the laws placed behind four other Bills in the running order, meaning they are unlikely to be debated and almost certainly won’t be brought to a vote.

The promised overhaul of the federal environmental protection regime has become a major political headache for the Government that has exposed tensions between the Prime Minister and his high-profile environment minister.

Political and industry sources said the Prime Minister and his office have been increasingly involved in negotiations in the past fortnight, with Mr Albanese understood to be determined not to do a deal with the Greens.

Mr Plibersek and Mr Albanese appeared at odds on Monday after Prime Minister effectively shut the door on a potential deal with the Greens to legislate the EPA, the second tranche of the Nature Positive Plan.

The Prime Minister explicitly ruled out including a “climate trigger” and signalled a similar level of opposition to the Greens’ watered-down calls for “climate considerations” to be factored into the environmental assessments of projects.

The firm statements came after Ms Plibersek last week repeatedly refused to rule out accepting the Greens’ main demand, sending alarm bells ringing across the business and mining industry.

Even after Mr Albanese’s comments on Monday morning, Ms Plibersek maintained she was still negotiating with all sides — including the Greens — as she fights to deliver a promise Labor took to the 2022 election.

The pair put on a united front when they attended a press conference together in Sydney on Tuesday morning.

Mr Albanese side-stepped the question when asked directly if he had overruled Ms Plibersek.

Instead, he backed in a point Ms Plibersek made last week that carbon pollution from industrial projects was already managed under the Commonwealth’s safeguard mechanism, meaning a “climate trigger” wasn’t needed.

“We won’t be inserting a climate change trigger into the legislation because that is not what the legislation is all about,” Mr Albanese said.

“The climate change trigger is something that the Greens want to attach to things to give them an excuse to vote against things.”

Ms Plibersek refused to confirm if she or her office had discussed a “climate trigger” with the Greens, saying she wouldn’t conduct negotiations via the media.

But Ms Plibersek again left the door open to a deal.

“Of course, I’ve said all the way through that we are open to sensible suggestions, and so far, unfortunately, we don’t have the agreement of the Liberals, the Nationals or the Greens to back legislation that has measures in it that they’ve previously supported,” she said.

“I’ll keep my door open. If we can get some sensible suggestions, I’ll be happy to listen to them.”

Greens leader Adam Bandt said the party would continue to push for some form of “climate trigger” — as well as crackdown on native forest logging — despite the Prime Minister’s firm stance.

Mr Bandt is open to negotiate around the specific model, giving Mr Albanese some wiggle room if he is prepared to shift position and entertain a deal.

“There needs to be a fix to our environment laws to address climate change and to address native forest logging,” Mr Bandt said.

Mr Albanese has offered to gut the EPA to win the Coalition’s support — but so far that hasn’t been enough.