Labor is challenging the coalition and Greens to help pass long-awaited nature reforms by the end of 2025.
“Reform can and will be done,” Environment Minister Murray Watt will tell the National Press Club on Thursday.
“With the hyper-partisan atmosphere of an election campaign behind us, now is the best opportunity to pass a balanced set of laws … that are firmly in the national interest.
“Put simply, it’s now or never.”
The bill overhauling the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act will be introduced into the House of Representatives on Thursday.
Senator Watt will then give a speech saying the legislation strikes a balance between protecting the environment and speeding up project approvals.
The bill draws on a 2020 review authored by Graeme Samuel that was handed down when Opposition Leader Sussan Ley was the environment minister.
“His review exposed that our national environment law is fundamentally broken, outdated and is failing both the environment and business,” Senator Watt will say in his speech.
He will take aim at the coalition’s infighting and Ms Ley’s call this week to split up the bill.
The environment minister will also take a swing at the Greens for threatening to block reform “rather than making progress”.
Key parts of the bill include setting up an independent Environmental Protection Agency, though the minister would retain the final say on development approvals.
The EPA will act independently with new powers, including the ability to issue stop-work orders and to audit approval-holders to ensure compliance.
The reforms will also remove duplication in approvals and assessment systems by updating bilateral agreements with state and territories.
It will streamline assessment time frames for proponents who provide enough up-front information for developments.
The government will immediately push for a 25-day parliamentary inquiry into its reforms, which would report back in time for the bill to clear the Senate before parliament returns on November 27.
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
