As we met a few weeks ago to build sandcastles and discuss nature laws, the government was preparing its ideas for consultation with the public.
ACF welcomes progress in a number of areas and calls for more work in others. On National Environmental Standards and protection of threatened species and their habit, it’s proposed that the new legislation will rule out certain defined unacceptable impacts up front—the EPA will not approve things like adverse impacts on “critical protection areas” for a threatened species.
Definitions of key terms and how these are applied will matter a lot in determining how effective these protections will be, but the promise of setting out some “red lines” on what ought or ought not be approved is a major step forward.
In terms of an overhaul of threatened species recovery planning under the current EPBC Act, the government appears to be listening to calls to do more and reforms will include a new framework for “recovery strategies” for all listed species.
Once again, the detail will be important, but we welcome the commitment to fix the problems with the current laws.
The new EPA is a key priority for ACF—we see an independent body to implement and enforce the new laws as a game changer for environmental protection.
The detailed design of the EPA was not part of what we saw in this round of consultations, but it was clear that EPA will have a critical role in administering the new laws, which is welcome. However, it is critical that this is not undone by other proposed changes that risk undermining the EPA’s authority and independence.
One of our priorities for the reforms is rights to information and participation in decision-making which support community trust and confidence in the new laws, so we’re pleased to see that the government is now committed to a National Environmental Standard for Community Engagement and Consultation. But there’s a long way to go to get this right.
ACF notes several areas still requiring improvement including reworking Ministerial powers, how offsets are used, improving community engagement on proposals, and crucially, a failure to address how the new laws will tackle climate change.
The process of reworking these laws continues and ACF Gladstone thanks the locals who helped to bring this message to MP Colin Boyce’s office recently. We will keep you updated on this process as it continues into the new year.
