AD SPACE HERE

Albanese Scraps Nature Positive — Is Reform Dead in the Water?

In December, Australia's Prime Minister scuttled last-minute negotiations with the Greens amid concerns from mining groups and the electorate.


Wed 05 Feb 25

SHARE

Australia’s push to establish a national environmental watchdog is dead in the water (for now) after the Albanese Government moved to formerly scrap plans to introduce Nature Positive Laws today. It comes days after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reassured voters that the new laws – Australia’s largest reform to environmental regulations in a generation – would not go before parliament before the next election.

“I can’t see that it has a path to success. So at this stage, I can say that we won’t be proceeding with it this term. There simply isn’t a [Senate] majority, as there wasn’t last year,” the Prime Minister told The Conversation over the weekend.

“Does the environment and protection act need revision from where it was last century? Quite clearly it does. Everyone says that that’s the case. It’s a matter of working to, in a practical way, a commonsense reform that delivers something that supports industry.”

Anthony Albanese on the prospect of further environmental reform after the next election.

Wood Central understands that whilst the prime minister had moved to cut it out of a package of bills put before parliament late last year, the legislation was still in the draft Senate programme issued last week. The bill – unpopular in resource-strong states, led WA Premier Roger Cook to lash out at his east-coast ‘latte-sipping’ colleagues for their continued support of the bill.

Jono Duniam, Dutton’s shadow environmental minister, took the opportunity to slam the Albanese government for not ruling out its “anti-WA nature positive bill” after this year’s election:

“The government might be withholding their anti-WA nature positive bills from the Parliament now, but this doesn’t take away from the fact that the Prime Minister hasn’t ruled out bringing them back in the next term of government,” he said. “If the Prime Minister really wants to do the right thing, he wouldn’t rule out bringing these dreadful laws – including a deal with the Greens and Teals in the next term of Parliament.”

The real problem with Australia’s Nature Positive Laws…

Once considered the Albanese signature environmental policy, Wood Central last year reported that the new laws would have seen the Albanese government phase out regional forestry agreements and introduce a national Environment Protection Authority (or EPA), operating similarly to the equivalent state body in NSW. However, according to a legal expert with a strong understanding of the laws being pushed by powerful environmental and water minister Tanya Plibersek, the standards in the proposed act failed to provide accountability for the process.

“Firstly, there are significant information gaps in the model provided, and secondly, where there is information, it is not easily in the public domain,”  Stuart Coppock, a legal expert who consults to the NSW supply chain for hardwood. “I don’t understand why there is no external review process for EPA decision,” he said, before adding that the “most obvious place to put that is in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).”

Author

  • Jason Ross

    Jason Ross, publisher, is a 15-year professional in building and construction, connecting with more than 400 specifiers. A Gottstein Fellowship recipient, he is passionate about growing the market for wood-based information. Jason is Wood Central's in-house emcee and is available for corporate host and MC services.

spot_img

Related Articles