An overhaul to the national environmental law will be introduced later this year, following long delays.
Environment Minister Murray Watt said the changes would help speed up project approvals and strengthen environmental protections.
Industry groups and climate activists have been calling for reforms to the law, calling it “broken,” complex, and weak.
Here’s what you need to know.
Environmental law
The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) is the formal name for the national environmental law.
It was first introduced in 1999, under then-Prime Minister John Howard.
While it has been updated over the years, the law doesn’t mention climate change, aside from one reference to a 1992 UN climate conference.
Changes
There have long been calls to simplify and modernise the EPBC Act.
Former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Graeme Samuel led an independent review of the law in 2020.
Samuel called the law “outdated”, criticising the lack of protection of natural habitats and long wait-times for project approvals.
Projects under the act include fossil fuel explorations (e.g. gas drilling) and housing construction.
Environmental groups and the University of Queensland have also found 7.7 million hectares of potential protected habitats were cleared between 2000 and 2017, when the law was in effect.
In the last term of Parliament, Labor introduced a bill to bring in a national Environmental Protection Agency.
Your contribution ensures The Daily Aus can continue doing the work you love.
I want to give $10 monthly to help TDA keep doing the news.
Your details:
The agency would be tasked with enforcing laws to protect natural habitats and threatened species.
The bill was dumped in February, months out from the federal election.
Reforms
Environment Minister Murray Watt has pledged to overhaul the environmental laws before the end of the year, six months earlier than he initially announced.
It follows last week’s Economic Roundtable, which looked at changes to tax and boosting productivity.
Head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Andrew McKellar welcomed the government’s commitment to “accelerate the process” of reforming the EPBC Act, to get “clear and fast answers” on project approvals.
What now?
Watt said: “We need to move quickly to reform these laws, as delays mean holding up investment and more environmental destruction.”
The Government will consult over the next few months before introducing a new bill to Parliament.
Shadow Environment Minister Angie Bell said she’s opening to working with the Government, adding: “It’s too important to get this reform wrong.”
“Industry can exist alongside environmental protections that need to be stronger,” she said.
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the reforms have been in the works for three years already, adding that she’s willing to get stronger environmental laws through the Parliament.
“Environment laws that protect nature must include: protection of critical habitat and forests, stop[ping] species extinction, a climate trigger, [and] federal control over approvals”.
The Greens have previously pushed for a ‘climate trigger’, which would require projects to be weighed against their likely impact on the climate.
