I got a text from a biodiversity advocate around midday on Thursday asking me: are you glad, or sad?<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t sure how to reply.<\/p>\n
The Australian parliament is amending the country\u2019s environment laws<\/a>. Thanks to negotiating by the Greens, the amended laws will not enable the fast-tracking of coal and gas mining, which the government had proposed. Decisions about coal and gas mines that harm water resources will be retained by the commonwealth and not given over wholly to state governments as the government had proposed. That is an enormous relief.<\/p>\n And yet, I am filled with foreboding.<\/p>\n The bill introduced into parliament only a few weeks ago proposed to take the country backwards in environmental protection. It sought to strip communities of participation in environmental decisions, hand decision-making about environmental harm to the states and territories and give the environment minister sweeping power to tailor environmental regulations for certain developments, companies or industries.<\/p>\n The government made it clear from the outset that the convenience of business, the desire for \u201cquick yesses\u201d that could harm the natural environment, was its chief priority. It has been made clear that the government intends to grant fast-tracked approval to renewable energy developments and minerals mines. There is excited talk about \u201cabundance\u201d \u2013 which is code for sweeping forests, wetlands, woodlands and local communities out of the path of business, mining and development.<\/p>\n The minister is adamant this can be done while protecting the environment, but my 25 years of experience with environmental regulation tell me that haste brings unintended consequences. It makes communities angry. It leads to losses of our beautiful natural heritage that are mourned for generations. It impoverishes us by eroding the natural ecosystems that actually create the \u201cabundance\u201d that makes our society.<\/p>\n