{"id":254527,"date":"2025-11-01T02:34:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T02:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/254527\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T02:34:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T02:34:13","slug":"watts-race-to-environment-law-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/254527\/","title":{"rendered":"Watt\u2019s race to environment law reform"},"content":{"rendered":"

Murray Watt is still optimistic about the chances of passing his reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for all the rhetoric flying around, when I actually meet with the Coalition, the Greens and stakeholders, no one is saying they are totally opposed to this bill,\u201d the environment minister tells The Saturday Paper.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are obviously things that they want to negotiate on and amendments that they would like to seek, but no one is saying, \u2018Absolutely won\u2019t, no way.\u2019 So that\u2019s encouraging.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m talking with people every day, so I\u2019m certainly hopeful that the sorts of issues that people are raising with me can be dealt with by our amendments, and that way we can get on with it and pass these laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watt\u2019s shadow minister, Angie Bell, regards the current offering from Labor as a handbrake on business. Still, she hopes to reach a compromise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve met with the minister a number of times, and we\u2019re working through some of these big, primary concerns,\u201d Bell tells The Saturday Paper. \u201cI\u2019ll continue to meet with the minister or the department or both, to see if there\u2019s a way through. But right now, these bills \u2026 the way they currently are, we cannot support them.\u201d<\/p>\n

All parties agree the current laws are broken, but it is hard to find a satisfied voice on the package Watt designed to replace the nature laws that cover the assessment and approvals of green projects and large housing developments, as well as more controversial land clearing, mining and forestry.<\/p>\n

Conservation groups and the Greens fear nature protection will be weakened, while business and industry want the reforms to be more pro-development. The only element that has been ruled out by Watt is a \u201cclimate trigger\u201d to strike out projects based on greenhouse emissions, and he says he won\u2019t entertain splitting the bills.<\/p>\n

If passed, an independent environment protection agency would be established to oversee environmental protections, including enforcement, with stronger powers and penalties to deter breaches and respond to harm.<\/p>\n

There is also a new power for ministerial rulings; a new definition for what constitutes an \u201cunacceptable impact\u201d, which could be used to stop proposals on environmental grounds; an overhaul of the environmental offset system; better collection of national environmental data; and a new application of the rarely used \u201cnational interest\u201d exemption, which the minister can use to fast-track major projects, even if they don\u2019t meet the national environmental standards.<\/p>\n

This exemption is designed for matters of defence, national security or a national disaster, but the minister \u201chas in mind\u201d critical minerals mining, renewable energy projects and housing developments.<\/p>\n

The reforms also contain a fast-track option and propose new bilateral agreements between the Commonwealth and each state and territory to sort out the powers of assessment and decision-making.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is stick to Graeme Samuel\u2019s recommendations,\u201d Watt says. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to find ways to be able to speed up the delivery of projects while having those strong safeguards for the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reforms have a \u201cno regression clause\u201d contained in new environmental standards that are being introduced through regulation rather than the big package of EPBC legislation. The clause means the standards cannot be changed or updated unless the new standard would deliver \u201cequivalent or improved environmental outcomes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Watt is first releasing two draft standards, on what constitutes matters of national environmental significance and on an overhaul of the offsets regime. The offset will require a net gain rather than the current test of no net loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big win will be to pass the legislation. I think they just need to understand the reality of what\u2019s being put forward. It is a massive, massive step forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The standards are the \u201ccentrepiece\u201d of Samuel\u2019s reforms, according to Watt, and the first two are stand-outs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were the two standards that most of the stakeholders had most interest in,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause we\u2019ve accelerated the timetable, we don\u2019t have the time to draft every single standard, but those two were critical to stakeholders and so we\u2019ve really prioritised those.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Coalition is concerned about the sweeping powers that will be given to the chief executive of the EPA, as well as emissions reporting requirements under the new EPBC Act. Bell says she is also keen for the definition of \u201cunacceptable impact\u201d to be taken out of the legislation and put into an environmental standard instead.<\/p>\n

Since the minister has already ruled out a climate trigger, one of the Greens\u2019 major sticking points is the protection of forests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we will continue to call for is nature laws that actually protect nature,\u201d says Greens leader Larissa Waters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry Mr Samuel isn\u2019t happy that people aren\u2019t picking up his report and turning it into gospel, but the Greens will always fight for nature and for an end to forest logging and for climate to be factored in and not to have the red carpet rolled out for coal and gas corporations.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Watt believes he still has a\u00a0hope of negotiating with either the Coalition or the Greens.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty confident that we can pass the bill this year,\u201d he tells The Saturday Paper. \u201cI have no doubt whatsoever that we will pass\u00a0a bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are reforms that have been dragging on for five years. The community is tired of the debate. The business community is tired of the debate. The environment continues to suffer while we go round and round in circles. It is urgent that we get this\u00a0done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Renowned as a \u201cfixer\u201d for the prime minister, Watt insists he is sticking very closely to the recommendations from Graeme Samuel, who was commissioned by then environment minister Sussan Ley to review the laws in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel for Sussan Ley, because I think she\u2019s just jammed between what she probably believes, judging from the discussions I had with her when we did the review, and what sections of the party room are obligating her to deal with, and so that\u2019s as best as I can read\u00a0it at the moment,\u201d Samuel tells The Saturday Paper.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done that as much as I can \u2026 which is to say that I\u2019m frustrated, I\u2019m angry, and to try and point out that she embraced the report back when it was delivered to her, and she embraced it as we went through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samuel, a former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, is just as disappointed by the Greens, who he regards as \u201cdeliberately misunderstanding\u201d his 2021 report.<\/p>\n

The Greens, while still very much in negotiations, see a package skewed to big business and the \u201cfast-tracking of fossil fuels\u201d.<\/p>\n

Environment groups regard the proposed reforms as the \u201cbiggest test the Albanese government has faced\u201d but believe they contain too many loopholes. They are also concerned about a deal with the Coalition that made the laws more favourable to business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would be concerned about any pathway that included the Coalition,\u201d Paul Sinclair, the acting chief executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation, said on\u00a0Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe assessed the Coalition\u2019s climate and nature policies at the last federal election. They were rated between zero and 100. They received one. The Coalition has not proven by its actions that it supports [stopping] deforestation, that it supports including climate change in our new nature law. We want the pathway to be with politicians, with the parliament. We want to see a strong law, not a half-arsed law that is stuffed up for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Business Council of Australia, which represents the big miners, wants approvals sped up and wants more clarity over the powers of an EPA to issue stop-work orders. \u201cWhat is clear is that the existing system is holding up our capacity to deliver housing,\u201d the council\u2019s chief executive, Bran Black, says. \u201cIt\u2019s holding up our capacity to deliver renewables. It\u2019s holding up our capacity to support new infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Clean Energy Council, the current laws have created delays in the transmission rollout for the renewable energy transition. \u201cWe are at a pivotal stage in terms of scaling up clean energy generation, distribution and storage in Australia,\u201d Jackie\u00a0Trad, the council\u2019s chief executive, tells The Saturday Paper. \u201cWe need the changes to the EPBC Act to really take that growth to the level that it needs to get to in order to meet our commitments under legislation to reduce emissions and to increase renewable energy into the national electricity market.\u201d<\/p>\n

With two sitting weeks left this year, Watt wants the bill passed in the House next week and he expects a short Senate inquiry into the bill before a possible deal at the end of November. Labor\u2019s super majority in the Lower House means little in the Senate, where the government is in minority.<\/p>\n

The man who created the blueprint for reform is urging compromise for the benefit of future generations. Samuel says environmental law reform should be above politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big win will be to pass the legislation,\u201d he says. \u201cI think they just need to understand the reality of what\u2019s being put forward. It is a massive, massive step forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you care about the environment, if you think that nature is going to be an important part of our ecosystem, and I use \u2018ecosystem\u2019 in that broad sense of the word, then you\u2019ve got no choice: you actually have to deal with it and deal with it in a sensible manner.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd dealing with it means adopting a\u00a0different regime and a different process for preserving the environment, for stopping degradation and \u2026 hopefully to recover where\u00a0we\u2019ve got species that are facing extinction.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on
\n November 1, 2025 as “Watt next”.<\/p>\n

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