‘Don’t gut these laws’: Backbench warning to Watt on environment

Environment Minister Murray Watt has been warned by pro-environment Labor MPs not to water down the government’s nature law reform in an attempt to win over the opposition and big business.

The Albanese government is bringing a bill to parliament on Thursday to reform the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act, which would deliver its overdue election commitment to create a new national watchdog agency and accelerate assessing major projects.

Environment Minister Murray Watt.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The bill includes a national interest test that grants the minister discretionary powers to essentially override the standard process and approve projects deemed in the national interest, which could potentially include mines or wind farms.

The business-friendly measure could help to get the Coalition onside after Opposition Leader Sussan Ley attacked the bill for doing too little to drive investment. The government needs either Coalition or Greens votes in the Senate to pass the law.

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Labor MP Jerome Laxale welcomed Watt’s bill as a positive for the environment, but warned his colleagues in a meeting on Tuesday that it should not be compromised in a bid to win Ley’s support.

“I don’t want these laws gutted,” Laxale said, according to MPs who heard the remarks in the room.

Watt responded that the proposed rules had strict eligibility criteria and would be applied on a case-by-case basis.

However, conservation groups including The Wilderness Society and Humane World for Animals Australia have criticised the national interest approval powers, which they warned could greenlight environmental destruction.

MPs also sought answers on how to counter criticism levelled by some green groups over the government’s decision to rule out a climate trigger provision, which the Greens have advocated for and could have vetoed new fossil fuel projects.

Watt explained to a separate group of questioners – including Western Sydney MP Sally Sitou – that a review into environment laws conducted by former head of the consumer watchdog Graham Samuel advised against a trigger.

Instead, Labor proposed rules to force project proponents to disclose how they will comply with existing climate laws, under the so-called safeguard mechanism that forces the nation’s biggest polluters to cut their emissions.

The backbenchers, who are under pressure from their electorates to deliver the reforms, called on Watt to publicly explain his reasoning.

The Greens argue the laws have been crafted to please business groups. “What we have seen from the environment minister is a blank cheque for the big mining companies and the big logging companies and big business generally,” leader Larissa Waters said on Tuesday.

Watt said on Monday that the laws would aid both the environment and projects such as housing and renewables.

Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry has described the environmental bill as the most important tool at the government’s disposal to improve productivity because so many economy-enhancing projects were being jammed in approvals processes.

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Labor has resurrected the nature reforms this term after it dropped the plans last year in the face of blowback from miners and the West Australian government over concerns it would stymie resources projects.

The Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN), which is the biggest grouping in the party’s membership with 500 branches on the east coast, welcomed Watt’s reform but said the government must ensure land clearing, which is a major driver of species extinction, is assessed by the new watchdog.

“There is a lot to like in this act and LEAN is very supportive of it because it actually seeks to protect the environment and restore it, as well as giving business more certainty and better processes,” said LEAN co-convener Louise Crawford.

Sitou said the environmental reforms would deliver for business and nature. “We desperately need these environmental law reforms, and I appreciate Minister Murray Watt’s efforts to engage and listen to a wide range of voices on this issue,” she said. Laxale declined to comment.

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