![Nationals MP John Cobb is the chairman of the parliamentary committee inquiry. Photo: Andrew Meares Nationals MP John Cobb is the chairman of the parliamentary committee inquiry. Photo: Andrew Meares](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/53e577f2-9709-426c-b249-f34ec6f1522b.jpg/r0_0_729_410_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Kelly O'Shanassy says advocacy to prevent environmental damage is ultimately cheaper than remediation. Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Kelly O'Shanassy says advocacy to prevent environmental damage is ultimately cheaper than remediation.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/84f5a3e3-056d-4194-8571-44a17db513a2.jpg/r0_0_729_410_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![Liberal MP Jason Wood is concerned that groups that focus on education and advocacy for environmental causes could be unfairly penalised. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen Liberal MP Jason Wood is concerned that groups that focus on education and advocacy for environmental causes could be unfairly penalised. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/e49fd9f0-4de7-4eac-a888-04c10a2cd484.jpg/r0_0_728_410_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Donations to environmental groups such as Greenpeace, the Wilderness Society and Friends of the Earth could be stripped of their tax deductible status under sweeping changes put forward by members of the Turnbull government.
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The proposals prompted claims by the environment movement and federal opposition that members of the Coalition were mounting an "anti-democratic" attack on free speech and were singling out those advocating for the protection of nature and the climate.
In a report released on Wednesday, a long-running parliamentary committee inquiry headed by government MPs recommended a rule that would mean green groups losing their tax deductibility status for donations unless each year they spend at least a quarter of the money they receive on "environmental remediation works" such as as tree plantings.
That recommendation prompted one government member, Victorian Liberal MP Jason Wood, to break from his Coalition colleagues and express concern that groups that focused on education and advocacy for environmental causes would be unfairly penalised.
Labor MPs on the committee rejected the proposed "25 per cent rule" outright, saying in their dissenting report it would in effect be a restriction on political speech.
Winding back green tax concessions has long been championed by mining lobbies – in particular, the Minerals Council of Australia –which have argued that green groups should not be allowed to use their tax-free status to frustrate major industrial development, particularly new coal mines, in the courts and by protests.
If adopted, the "25 per cent rule" would follow similar moves in Canada and New Zealand in recent years to tighten tax concessions for green donations.
A spokesman for Environment Minister Greg Hunt said it was a report to government, not from government, and it would consider and respond "in due course."
The committee chairman, National Party MP John Cobb, wrote in the his introduction to the report that it was important the public was assured that tax concessions are granted appropriately and that donors knew their commitments were being distributed and used in line with their expectations.
There are almost 600 environment groups on the register that affords tax deductibility status for donations, including hundreds of smaller and locally focused organisations. Previously, Queensland Nationals senator Matt Canavan has declared about 100 to 150 groups on the registry were "engaged in [activities] which seem to have their purpose at stopping industrial development".
As well as those on the registry, a handful of older groups, such as the Australian Conservation Foundation, Landcare and the WWF, have their donation deductibility status outlined in tax law.
The standing committee on the environment recommends these groups be removed from tax laws and be brought together with those on the register, and that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) be given oversight of their deductibility status.
Under the recommendations, the groups would also face sanctions if they "encourage, support, promote, or endorse" illegal activity by employees, members, volunteers and even others without any formal connection to the organisation.
Members of green groups commonly face trouble with the law during – often peaceful – protests and blockades that seek to stop such activities as logging, mining and gas extraction.
Mr Wood and Labor both criticised this proposal, arguing it would be complex and burdensome to regulate, and that current laws could already police acts of violence and property damage by activists.
In additional comments to the report, Mr Wood also pointed to the blockade that stopped the Franklin River dam project and activities to frustrate Japanese whalers as examples of past campaigns that could fall foul of the new changes being pushed by his Coalition colleagues.
Environment groups were quick to condemn the proposed changes on Wednesday. The Australian Youth Climate Coalition said that from the start the committee inquiry had been about the federal government and mining industry silencing the community, which wanted to see Australia act to prevent dangerous global warming.
"The government shouldn't be making it harder for young people to have their say on crucial issues like climate change," said Kirsty Albion, the coalition's national director.
The head of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Kelly O'Shanassy, said advocacy helped avoid environmental destruction in the first place, and preventing environment damage was a lot less costly than having to later remedy it.
In its submission to the inquiry, the Wilderness Society said defining and quantifying what would count as "environment remediation" would be an administrative burden and inconsistent with the government's aim of cutting red tape.
Major donors to environment causes have previously warned that changes to the tax-free status of green groups would dry up funding for environmental organisations.
Minerals Council chief executive, Brendan Pearson, said the inquiry had heard evidence that a minority of environment organisations were "misusing tax-deductible donations to fund or carry out activities that are unlawful, unsafe or politically partisan" and urged the Turnbull government to adopt the recommendations.