New laws introduced in Queensland aim to stop Clive Palmer from shirking his environmental responsibilities at his ailing nickel refinery in the state's north.
Environment Minister Steven Miles on Tuesday introduced an amendment to parliament that will stop taxpayers footing the bill if businesses close their doors but leave any environmental clean-up to the government.
Dr Miles said the ongoing saga surrounding the Palmer-owned Queensland Nickel refinery at Yabulu, near Townsville, highlighted gaps in the current legislation that needed fixing.
He said if the site was abandoned, there was a risk about 4.4 billion litres of contaminated water in the site's tailing and brine ponds could find its way into the Great Barrier Reef.
The changes will mean companies won't be able to shirk their environmental responsibilities if they were in financial strife or hid behind complicated corporate structures, Dr Miles said.
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"This will send a strong message to individuals and companies - if you make a mess, you clean it up," he told parliament.
"If you try to walk away from your mess, we will impose a chain of responsibility to bring you back to clean up after yourself.
"And if you try to avoid your responsibilities by hiding behind elaborate, artificial corporate structures, we will impose a chain of responsibility to reach beyond those contrived legal barriers."
Dr Miles said the changes mean parent companies or company directors could be held responsible for preventing or cleaning up environmental damage.
He proposed that aspects of the bill, if passed by parliament, take effect from Tuesday to "prevent any last-minute manoeuvring to avoid the effect of its provisions".
The Environmental Protection (Chain of Responsibility) Amendment Bill 2016 was referred to the parliament's Agriculture and Environment Committee for consideration.
