EDITORIAL: Dud nature reform must be put out of its misery

News that Labor’s flawed Nature Positive reform is on the brink of death should come as a relief to Australian business, as well as anyone with an interest in this country having a strong and resilient economy.

Although well-intentioned, Nature Positive was a dog from the start.

It was worked up in secrecy, with the so-called “consultation process” conducted away from public scrutiny.

Industry stakeholders invited to closed-door briefings with Government officials about the changes weren’t allowed to bring in mobiles or laptops and could take away only their own handwritten notes detailing what was contained in the incredibly complex reform.

The consequence of this lack of transparency was to spook the industry, making them think twice before pushing ahead with vital new projects.

It got worse when we did finally hear details of what was contained in the planned overhaul of Australia’s environmental regulations.

More layers of bureaucracy, increasing regulatory burden and litigation risk. A flat-out barmy plan to speed limit traffic along stretches of road in the vast Pilbara mining region to a crawling 40km/h.

A new and redundant Federal environmental protection agency, duplicating bureaucracy that already exists in each State and Territory.

Most worrying to industry, there was talk of a “climate trigger”, which would have banned projects predicted to produce more than 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

Slowly, many of these dud ideas were abandoned or wound back as it became clear that they were unworkable and would put a handbrake on productivity.

Now it appears that the Government is preparing to walk away from the whole thing altogether.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has made no headway in resolving the political stand-off to win the support she needs to establish the EPA, a key tranche of Nature Positive.

With just five weeks left in the life of this Parliament, that likely means the clock will run out on this bad reform.

Now the Government must put a bullet in its brain, lest it come back from the dead as a policy zombie in the next Parliament.

There’s a strong chance that we could be in for a minority Labor government after next year’s election.

That would mean they would have an even greater need to rely on the Greens and Teals to pass legislation, opening up the possibility of a Nature Positive even more damaging to the economy than we’ve seen previously. More and more layers of green tape and new avenues of lawfare for green activists intent on tying projects up in legal limbo.

That would be a disaster for productivity.

No one in business in Australia believes that industry should have carte blanche to wreck the environment.

We need effective, workable laws which protect the environment from harm, while also allowing for essential, nation-building projects to go ahead.

Anything less will leave Australians worse off.