Labor has struck a deal with the Greens to overhaul federal environmental protection laws on parliament\u2019s final sitting day of the year, ending a five-year struggle to deliver on Graeme Samuel\u2019s blueprint to fix the broken system.<\/p>\n
The Greens have agreed to support Labor\u2019s re-write of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act after securing further concessions from the government amid tense and prolonged negotiations. The deal will sideline Sussan Ley\u2019s Coalition, which refused to yield on their demands for more business-friendly concessions in exchange for supporting the legislation.<\/p>\n
Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n The prime minister, Anthony Albanese<\/a>, announced the deal just after 8am on Thursday, saying the changes would herald \u201ca new era for the environment and productivity in Australia\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a landmark day for the environment in this country,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is also a good day for business in this country by providing more certainty, reducing delays and making sure that we get better outcomes and improved productivity.\u201d<\/p>\n The deal will clear the path for Labor to ram the legislation through the Senate on Thursday, handing Albanese a major political win to end 2025. After negotiations with the Greens, Albanese said the government had agreed to place further environmental standards on the forestry industry.<\/p>\n The prime minister also said the government was setting up a $300m fund for the forestry industry to support jobs and to fund equipment to modernise the industry.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are removing and sunsetting the exemption from the EPBC Act for high-risk land-clearing and regional forestry agreements so they comply with the same rules and standards as other industries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is about using science and evidence to prove all forestry in Australia is undertaken at the highest standard. The government is backing forestry and timber workers through our forest growth fund that will invest in new equipment and facilities to enable industry modernisation and reprocessing.\u201d<\/p>\n Albanese became actively involved in the final stages of negotiations, speaking directly with his Greens counterpart, Larissa Waters<\/a>, in a bid to resolve a weeks-long standoff. He praised the \u201cmaturity\u201d of Waters and the Greens\u2019 environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, during discussions.<\/p>\n