Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is delighted his government secured a deal with the Greens to pass controversial environmental protection laws. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
It took until the very last day of the parliamentary sitting year, but the Federal Government has got its overhaul of Australia’s environmental protection laws over the line.
Following a deal struck between Labor and the Greens, which cut the Coalition out of negotiations altogether, Anthony Albanese secured an end-of-year political victory to get the legislation through the Senate.
There have been numerous failed attempts over successive governments to update the nation’s environmental protection act.
The Prime Minister began Thursday (27 November) by describing it as a “landmark day” and the beginning of “a new era” for the environment and productivity in this country.
“It is also a good day for business in this country by providing more certainty, reducing delays and making sure that we get better outcomes and improved productivity,” he said.
“We have consulted extensively with the business community, with environmental groups and with community organisations.
“More than five years after Professor Graeme Samuel handed down his independent review into the nation’s 25-year-old environmental laws that were widely acknowledged as not being fit for purpose, the government’s Environment Protection Reform Bill will be passed by the Senate today.”
To secure the bill’s successful passage through the Senate, the government had to agree to include native forest logging in national environment standards within 18 months; set up a $300 million support fund for the forestry industry; and remove any sunset exemptions from the legislation for high-risk land-clearing and regional forestry agreements.
It also conceded to the Greens’ request for the legislation to prevent fast-tracking of coal and gas projects, and to keep such development approval powers with the Commonwealth rather than the states.
The Prime Minister praised the Greens’ approach to the negotiations, which concluded on Wednesday.
“I must say that the Greens showed maturity in that [there were] a range of things that they wanted they didn’t get,” he said.
“And I must say that the Greens were very constructive in those negotiations yesterday, and I thank them for it.”
The PM said he had offered to meet with Sussan Ley over the Coalition’s proposed amendments to the bill, but the Opposition Leader didn’t take up that offer.
Ms Ley, however, said no such offer was extended, and she described the development as a “dirty deal” between Labor and the Greens.
“I want to make some brief remarks about the Labor-Greens alliance, which is back – back in business and working against communities’ interests in industry for the future, against jobs and most importantly, working against lower power prices for Australians,” she said.
“Because what is very clear from the reaction so far to the dirty deal done by the Labor Party with the Greens, a deal that wasn’t necessary to conclude today or this year, what is absolutely clear is that this is going to put energy prices up and provide further pressure on electricity bills for struggling households and families.
“For the simple reason that the Greens have got what they want. The Greens party has always been at war with gas.
“They’ve always been at war with the resources projects that make our country strong. That means communities and jobs are under threat.”
Greens leader Larissa Waters said her party had secured changes to the legislation that will make it illegal for the federal Environment Minister to approve projects that have “unacceptable impacts” for the environment.
But they were unable to secure a climate impact trigger in the new laws, saying negotiations with the government were “firm and constructive”.
“We are very, very proud that we were able to stop the fast-tracking of coal and gas. That was an absolute red line for us,” Senator Waters said.
“We fought hard in these negotiations and were able to extract wins for nature.”
Greens environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young thanked Environment Minister Murray Watt for a constructive approach to the negotiations.
“The reason the Greens have come to this agreement with the government today is because we want to get things done,” she said.
Senator Watt said the reforms had been a “long time coming” and were finally being passed by Federal Parliament.
“These changes deliver that balanced package that we’ve talked about,” he said.
“To strengthen environmental protections and speed up the housing, renewables, critical minerals and other projects that we so desperately need.”
The new laws will establish a national environment protection agency and require development projects to report carbon emissions, but it specifically rules out a climate trigger that would prevent projects from going ahead.
They also allow for no-go zones where projects can be denied before applications are progressed.
