Government’s environment protection bill introduced to parliament

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The environment minister has warned it's now or never as he seeks parliamentary approval for a long-awaited overhaul of the nation's nature laws. There's broad consensus the current regime is bad for both the environment and for business and Murray Watt insists his revamped plan will deliver gains for both.

Transcript

00:00Native animals at risk of extinction, habitats in decline, housing and energy projects stalled.

00:10The common thread, outdated federal environmental laws.

00:14It's an exciting day and one that has been coming for a very long time.

00:19Five years after a landmark report laid bare the flaws in the act,

00:23the Albanese government has unveiled its much anticipated overhaul.

00:27Put simply, it's now or never.

00:30A whole host of projects have to be assessed under federal laws from mines to wind and solar farms.

00:36Right now more than 160 renewables projects are stuck in the approvals pipeline

00:42and it's taking around 118 weeks to reach a final decision.

00:47Murray Watts promising the revamped laws will make the process quicker and simpler,

00:51cutting duplication with the states and clarifying which areas are up for development

00:56and which are not.

00:58I don't think you'd find many Australians out there who would say it's okay to go and mine Uluru

01:02or drill on the Great Barrier Reef.

01:04There won't be a climate trigger which might have blocked fossil fuel projects,

01:08but developers will need to detail how they'll curb emissions

01:12and repair any damage caused to the environment or pay to mitigate it.

01:17The cornerstone of the bill, the first national environmental watchdog,

01:21though the minister will still have the final say.

01:25It's 1500 pages.

01:27It'll take a 40 hour working week to read through it.

01:29I won't be rubber stamping anything that fast tracks destruction.

01:33The Greens are demanding stronger powers to stop native forest logging.

01:38Murray Watts open to negotiations within reason.

01:41No one is going to get 100% of what they want.

01:43If everyone wants 100% of what they want, we will get nothing.

01:46Having failed in the last parliament, Labor is determined to find a breakthrough

01:51and get these laws passed by Christmas.

01:54The question is whether a deal can be done with the Coalition or the Greens

01:58in what's being framed as a test of pragmatism versus protest.

02:02So the Rhonda is an organization.

02:04The

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