Australian news and politics live: Parliament set to greenlight landmark environmental law reforms
Scroll down for all the latest news and updates.
Amy Lee is reporting live.
Environmental law reforms to pass Parliament today
Landmark environmental law reforms will be signed off in Parliament as industry groups work through the impact of the changes.
The Greens agreed to support Labor’s long-awaited rewrite of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act after securing concessions amid tense negotiations and a tight deadline.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared the reforms marked a “new era for the environment and productivity”.
The laws passed the Senate on Thursday night and will be signed off in the House of Representatives on Friday morning.
The reforms are inspired by Graeme Samuel’s 2020 review of environmental laws, promising to better protect nature through environmental standards while speeding up project approvals.
Hume slams Labor as clash over energy prices heats up
Liberal senator Jane Hume has slammed the Albanese Government’s handling of energy prices, branding its bill rebates “a Band-Aid on a bullet hole” as inflation and power costs continue to climb.
“We prefer to see the Government tackle the problem at the source and deliver on its promise to bring energy prices down,” Senator Hume told Sunrise on Friday, urging Labor to deliver on its long-promised $275 cut to household energy bills instead of relying on temporary relief.
She argued rising prices are making Australians poorer, blaming government spending for fuelling inflation. Health Minister Mark Butler defended the rebates, insisting they were always designed to be temporary.
“Everyone recognises they can’t go on forever,” he said. “They were put in place (when the) invasion of Ukraine spiked energy prices right around the world.”
“Cost of living relief is important. It has been for the last few years as we’ve seen global inflation but we’ve got to design it to keep inflation as low as possible.”
