Australia's federal environment protection laws are set for a major overhaul after a deal between Labor and the Greens was rushed through the Senate on Thursday evening. The legislation, which ends a five-year struggle to implement Graeme Samuel's 2020 blueprint for fixing the broken system, passed the upper house after 7pm, handing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a significant political win on the final sitting day of the parliamentary year.
The bill will return to the lower house on Friday morning for final approval before becoming law. The Coalition voted against the package, with shadow environment minister Sussan Ley describing it as a 'dirty deal' that would drive up energy prices. However, pro-nature Coalition senator Andrew McLachlan crossed the floor to support the bill. Independent senator David Pocock expressed alarm that the laws were 'rammed through with almost no time for scrutiny' and said the deal fell short in several areas, though he ultimately supported it.
Key elements of the overhaul include the establishment of a new environmental protection agency, a Labor election promise at the past two federal ballots, and new environmental standards to better protect nature while speeding up project assessments. Under the deal with the Greens, Labor agreed to subject native forest logging to national environment standards within 18 months, halving the original proposed timeframe. A $300m fund will support the forestry industry, funding equipment and modernisation. The government will also remove exemptions for high-risk land-clearing and regional forestry agreements, ensuring they comply with the same rules as other industries.
The deal also prevents the fast-tracking of coal and gas projects, keeps the 'water trigger' under commonwealth control, and ensures the federal minister can intervene in project approvals even after responsibilities are devolved to states. Greens leader Larissa Waters said the package 'improves our environmental laws' with new protections for native forests and land clearing, and importantly stops coal and gas from being approved within 30 days. However, she noted that the government refused to include climate considerations in the act, meaning decision-makers cannot consider climate impacts when approving or rejecting projects.
