Environment Minister Murray Watt says proposed overhauls of Australia’s environmental laws will pass parliament
Environment Minister Murray Watt said he was confident Labor would pass historic changes to Australia’s environmental laws, although a deal must be urgently reached with the Coalition or the Greens.
The federal government has been trying to reform the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act since 2022 after it was revealed that it was failing to protect the environment and delaying developments with unnecessary bureaucratic procedures.
Mr Watt told the ABC on Monday that Labor was “very close” to a deal and said he had “no doubt” the laws would be passed in the final week of parliament’s sitting.
“It’s really a matter of whether it’s with the Coalition or the Greens,” he said.
“And the decision they have to make this week is: Do they want to be part of passing historic reforms into our national environmental laws, or do they want the other side to step up and do it with us?
“I have said from the beginning that what we want is a balanced package of reforms that will benefit both the environment and business.”
Labor’s proposed legislation calls for the establishment of an independent environmental protection agency (EPA) to evaluate projects and enforce rules.
While the environment minister will have final say on any decision, the opposition argues the EPA risks creating a powerful, unaccountable government agency run by unelected officials.
The legislation also aims to tighten definitions to simplify regulations and force developers to provide a “net gain” for nature in priority areas.
Developers will also pay a restoration fee to fund nature restoration projects.
But the Coalition says definitions such as “net proceeds” lack clarity or are too broad, and obligations on developers are overly burdensome.
Opposition environment spokeswoman Angie Bell told the ABC the two issues were among seven high-priority review areas identified by the Coalition and added “the ball is clearly in the minister’s court”.
“I’ve laid out those red lines, if you will, or the Coalition’s significant problems with these bills, and now it’s up to him to come back to us with amendments.”
He also acknowledged Mr Watt’s work on the legislation, admitting the laws were “well overdue for reform”.
“I need to see the changes in terms of these key issues and there is a list of seven items, but there is more than what I have presented to the minister. So we need to see those changes so we can see whether they are credible,” Ms Bell said.
The Greens say Labor has been too hasty in introducing legislation that is the subject of a Senate inquiry.
“We are still investigating this 1,500-page bill and yet the government has put it on the Senate schedule,” Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young told reporters on Thursday.
“And today the Minister of Finance and senior members of the government say they want to pass this shoddy environmental bill through parliament with a party that doesn’t even believe in climate change.”
