Reactions to the breakthrough in parliament on Thursday that finally delivered the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act were predictably mixed.
The deal struck with the Greens has allowed Labor to claim success while appeasing competing claims and comes after and a major review of the act by former consumer watchdog Graeme Samuel.
Following are highlights of first reactions
The Australia Institute
The Greens negotiated new protections for native forests, saved a critical safeguard for water and prevented any fast-tracking of coal and gas approvals. The bad news is that these destructive projects won’t be approved any slower.
However, the outcome could have been “much, much worse”, with Albanese set on doing a deal with the Coalition earlier in the month, which would have weakened the environment laws, but was “forced to sink that deal” thanks to public pressure.
While the government always said they wouldn’t tackle fossil fuels in this bill, when will they? This is the most progressive parliament since Gough Whitlam, the public voted for climate action at the last election and the Opposition are tanking in the polls. Labor has all it needs to do the right thing by Australians.
The Climate Council
Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie said: “This deal strengthens protections for our native forests, and provides a faster yes to responsible renewable energy projects that cut climate pollution. That will help protect communities from rising power prices and climate damage.
“But this 2025 law fails the climate test. All new coal and gas projects still get a free pass on climate pollution. In fact, the law forbids the environment minister from considering a project’s climate pollution when assessing whether it should go ahead. That is a gaping hole in a law that should protect nature from the ravages of climate change.”
The Greens
The Greens’ Sarah Hanson-Young said closing the logging loophole “will deliver a blow to the logging industry, who now know that Australians just aren’t going to cop the destruction of our beautiful native forests”.
[The prime minister said the government is setting up a $300 million fund for the forestry industry to support jobs, fund equipment and “modernise”].
In the showdown over environmental laws, the Greens have proved themselves to be the better negotiators, able to outline a coherent position and willing to compromise to clinch a deal.
They whittled down their core demands and acceded to business-friendly changes.
“To all the forest activists and people in the environment movement out there, I say this to you: This is a significant step forward, but we’ll see you on the streets, and we’ll see you on the forest blockades because the fight goes on,” said The Greens’ Nick McKim, flanked by leader Larissa Waters and main negotiator Sarah Hanson-Young.
It may not be obvious, but the federal government’s rewrite of Australia’s environment laws could be the single greatest change to housing, renewables, mining and major industries in decades.
Under the old laws, the solar farm developers decide for themselves whether their project needs federal environmental approval, based on whether they expect it to impact any threatened species, culturally significant places or other important issues.
Under the new laws, there is a clear set of national standards setting out minimum expectations for the solar farm developers. The developers know up front the issues they likely need to address.
There are also “regional plans” that map out sensitive zones and low risk areas.
The developers are able to either get a “quick no” back from the department, or are assessed under a single process.
They are able to “tweak” their proposal and will be assessed using a streamlined approvals process that aims for a result within 30 business days.
Environment and forest
After months of meetings and negotiations, the final form of the 5000-page package has been settled…but while the government expects the reforms to bring some immediate benefits, it will take time to develop regional plans to map areas for development and protection, and it will take time for state governments to align with the laws.
Sussan Ley described [the new environment laws] as a “dirty deal” that would drive up energy prices, although one of her colleagues, the pro-nature senator Andrew McLachlan, crossed the floor to back Labor’s bill.
Forests
After negotiations with the Greens, Albanese said the government had agreed to subject native forest logging to national environment standards in 18 months’ time, halving the timeframe it proposed in its original offer to the minor party.
The prime minister also said the government was setting up a $300m fund for the forestry industry to support jobs and to fund equipment to modernise the industry
“This is about using science and evidence to prove all forestry in Australia is undertaken at the highest standard. The government is backing forestry and timber workers through our forest growth fund that will invest in new equipment and facilities to enable industry modernisation and reprocessing.”
- Don’t miss The Big Debate – Timber: solution or illusion is online Tuesday 9 December 12.30 to 2 pm (broadcast, but recording not distributed).
Greens leader, Larissa Waters said removing the fast-track option for fossil fuel projects was “sadly” the only concession the government was prepared to make on climate change
Independent senator, David Pocock said there were serious shortcomings, including a new provision that would allow the environment minister to make “rulings” about how environmental standards or other elements of the laws should be applied to proponents, actions or industries.
Graeme Samuel, the former competition watchdog said … the Coalition “manoeuvred themselves into irrelevance on this matter” and had been unable to sit down and negotiate with Murray Watt on what “central amendments” they wanted.
Other environmental outcomes include:
- Higher penalties for significant breaches of environmental law, with environment protection orders for use in urgent potential breaches of environmental law
- Removing and sunsetting the exemption from the EPBC Act for high-risk land clearing and regional forest agreements, so that they comply with the same rules and standards as other industries
- Requiring proponents of large emitting projects to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and their emission reduction plans
- Maintaining federal approval of “water trigger” coal and gas projects
Decision-making for business and the community:
- A new Streamlined Assessment Pathway, to significantly reduce the timeframe for proponents who provide sufficient information upfront, providing incentive to meet the standards upfront. This will deliver faster decisions, saving businesses time and money.
- New and improved bilateral agreements with states to remove duplication for the assessment and approval of projects.
- Regional planning, to deliver “go” and “no go” zones, delivering greater certainty to business, and future planning at a landscape scale, rather than project-by-project assessment.
- Clarifying definitions of “unacceptable impacts” and “net gain” for the environment and restraining the operation of Environmental Protection Orders.
Summary of provisions supplied by the Climate Council
