Murray Watt confirms Christmas deadline for environment approval laws

Murray Watt has officially confirmed he has set a pre-Christmas deadline for revealing the much-needed overhaul of the environmental protection and approvals laws.

The Environment Minister has already told industry heavyweights and green groups he wants to introduce the legislation to Parliament before the final sittings at the end of November, as The West revealed earlier in August.

The direction of the changes were strongly supported at last week’s economic roundtable, with business and environment representatives alike wanting to see faster rejections of projects that don’t meet the rules.

“It was clear from last week’s roundtable that there is very strong support – across business, environment and community representatives – for serious and urgent reform to deliver stronger environmental protections, faster and simpler project approvals and greater transparency in environmental regulation,” Senator Watt said.

“I have consistently heard that we need to move quickly to reform these laws, as delays mean holding up investment and more environmental destruction. We are answering that call by significantly accelerating these reforms.”

The new EPBC legislation is expected to include a revised Environmental Protection Agency with compliance and enforcement powers but not make decisions on approvals, and a mechanism to accredit the States and Territories to assess applications under Commonwealth environmental rules.

It will seek to make the changes all in one go, rather than the tranche approach taken by previous minister Tanya Plibersek.

That legislation foundered amid opposition from the resources sector and WA Government.

Senator Watt has held more than 40 meetings and discussions with environment, resources, energy, property and other business groups in the months since taking on the portfolio.

This includes a standing “quiet” meeting between his team and executives from BHP, Rio Tinto, WWF Australia and the Australian Conservation Foundation.

WA Premier Roger Cook and Senator Watt discussed the new proposal in Perth earlier in August and are expected to meet again in Canberra this week.

Australian Mining Exploration Companies chief executive Warren Pearce said industry had found the engagement like “night and day” compared to the previous term.

“I think there’s a growing confidence from industry that this can land as a well-balanced piece of legislation,” he told The West on Monday, after meeting again with the minister’s team.

“We’re really pleased with the changes they’ve made to the EPA model but we’re still looking for a strong commitment around timeframes for introducing bilaterals with the states and territories, because that’s where the major gains in terms of removing duplication and time are in the approval system.”