Strengthen our Nature Laws

Strengthen our Nature Laws

The Federal Labor Government has finally revealed its long-awaited Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act reforms, with the intention of fixing our broken environment laws across Australia.  

This updates legislation in desperate need of change as our laws have been failing nature for decades. The problem is that the changes Labor has proposed are not up to scratch. In fact, some environmental law experts have said the reforms actually take us backwards!  

Some of the key problems with the reforms are: 

  • They continue to make native forest logging exempt from federal environment laws, and they do not close the ‘continuous ...

The Federal Labor Government has finally revealed its long-awaited Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act reforms, with the intention of fixing our broken environment laws across Australia.  

This updates legislation in desperate need of change as our laws have been failing nature for decades. The problem is that the changes Labor has proposed are not up to scratch. In fact, some environmental law experts have said the reforms actually take us backwards!  

Some of the key problems with the reforms are: 

  • They continue to make native forest logging exempt from federal environment laws, and they do not close the ‘continuous use’ loophole which allows deforestation to continue almost completely unregulated  
  • The reforms hand over many decisions of national significance to state and territory governments, including coal and gas projects and projects that impact our precious water 
  • They give the Minister of the day unprecedented power to decide how environmental laws will apply – undermining the power of the new National Environment Protection Agency
  • They broaden the ‘National Interest’ loophole so that more projects can be approved regardless of their environmental impacts. If the Minister of the day decides for whatever reason a project is in the ‘National Interest’, it can be approved even if it does not pass national environmental standards 
  • It still does not include a requirement for decision-makers to consider climate impacts, leaving our environment largely unprotected from climate emissions 

If the proposed new environmental laws get approved as they are, key decisions that impact on our environment will be sold off to state governments, outdated deforestation practices will destroy wildlife habitat and climate emissions will be still swept under the rug. 

We need to take this opportunity to strengthen our national environmental laws, not weaken them.  

Please write to your federal Labor Senators to tell them this is our chance to have nature laws that actually protect nature, and ask them to strengthen the Bill.

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Email your Senators

Please write to your federal Senators to tell them this is our chance to have nature laws that actually protect nature, and ask them to strengthen the Bill.

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