Labor to wield nature reform as weapon against Coalition, Greens

The government rejected this assessment, insisting that this element of the bill did not constitute a new test but reflected compliance already required under the government’s safeguard mechanism pollution limits.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley tried and failed to bring nature reforms to parliament in 2022 when she was environment minister during the Morrison government. Labor is now pushing for a deal with Ley that will test his ability to persuade right-wing hardliners who campaign against climate targets to protect the environment. Or he may decide to work with the Greens instead.

Coalition media spokeswoman Angie Bell said she would not make a decision until she sees all the details of the reform, “because we know the devil is in the details.”

Preservationists fear that proposed changes to the balancing regime, a requirement for developers to offset inevitable damage, will weaken it.

For example, a wind farm seeking permission to cut down forests to build turbines and access roads may need to invest more in preserving and propagating forests elsewhere. Project developers will not be required to make specific offsets, but instead will pay into a government-administered account.

Biodiversity Council co-chair Professor Hugh Possingham, Queensland’s former chief scientist, said state-run compensation payment schemes had failed. “These have largely come down to regulatory systems that pay to destroy,” he said.

Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said the reforms would weaken environmental protections and help project developers.

“There are dirty fingerprints everywhere, although the industry will no doubt say they don’t have enough,” he said. “These laws were written to help big business and mining companies at the expense of nature.”

Watt, seen as a fixer in the cabinet, was transferred to Plibersek’s environment portfolio after the election to revive the nature bill. He spent months meeting with business groups, mining companies, conservationists and state governments.

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Former Treasury boss Ken Henry said in July environmental reform was more important than tax reform or any other measure to boost Australia’s productivity.

Albania’s government must make wind and solar farms widely available to help meet Australia’s climate targets but is facing pressure from renewable energy industries to change existing laws. reported project delays of up to several years. A government source said industry fears were exaggerated and that business gains in streamlining approvals would ease concerns.

But Australia also has one of the worst records for wildlife destruction in the world. The country’s share of mammal extinction alone accounts for 38 percent of global losses.

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