Major overhaul of environmental laws

Government to establish federal environmental protection agency in major overhaul of Australia’s environmental laws.

The federal government has committed to a landmark overhaul of Australia’s environment laws in a move Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says will reverse the decline of Australia’s environment and “leave it in a better state than we found it”.

The reforms will include establishing a federal environmental protection agency (EPA) to act as a “tough cop on the beat”, and will impose legally binding standards across all environmental decisions.

The overhaul will also bolster protections for areas of national environmental significance, and tighten standards for the logging of native forests.

Labor’s commitment to law reform is a centrepiece of its environmental agenda, and will be key to implementing its goal of zero new extinctions.

It plans to have draft legislation complete by the middle of 2023, ready for introduction to parliament before the end of that year.

Environment groups have described the moves as “a strong start”, “a first step” and “promising”, but also have concerns about certain aspects.

The opposition called the move an “assault on the job-creators of our nation”, while the crossbench, likely required to get the policy through parliament, called for some aspects of the changes to be strengthened.

Key points

• The review of Australia’s environmental laws was originally handed to the Morrison government in October 2020
• The new changes, announced by the Albanese government on Thursday, will see the introduction of a federal environmental protection agency
• Environmental groups have welcomed the changes but called for more detail on accountability and funding

Source
ABC News