Nature Positive: Roger Cook warns re-write of environmental laws could cause ‘significant delays’ to approvals

The Labor Premier in charge of Australia’s resources powerhouse has warned the Albanese Government its controversial Nature Positive plan could cause “significant delays” to project approvals, applying pressure on his Federal colleagues to rethink elements of the contentious agenda.

WA Premier Roger Cook has also sought reassurances from Federal Labor that a “climate trigger” won’t be included in its planned rewrite of environmental protection laws — a policy industry believes will lead to economic ruin.

The Premier has used a submission to the Senate inquiry into the proposed Federal environment protection agency to express serious reservations with the wider Nature Positive plan.

The primary concern is the third, final and most contentious stage of the overhaul, which will feature new national environmental standards.

In the submission, Mr Cook said his State’s aspirations of becoming a green energy superpower hinged on “sensible” reforms that reduce approval times, cut Commonwealth-State duplication, and deliver world-class environmental protection.

“As proposed, the stage three reforms could cause significant delays to environmental approvals in the crucial years between now and 2030, a time when the nation needs to roll out decarbonisation and energy transition projects at pace,” Mr Cook’s submission read.

Mr Cook wants the Federal Government to consult closely with WA before pursuing “fit-for-purpose” and “pragmatic” laws that help cut assessment times, hit climate targets and attract new investment.

The Albanese Government is promising a comprehensive round of consultation before the third stage is introduced to Federal Parliament, although the time frame for that process remains unclear.

Mr Cook has made a series of requests for the consultation process, including that proponents be given the opportunity to road-test policies, such as the calculator that would be used to determine the cost of repairing environmental damage.

The Premier also sought confirmation the safeguard mechanism would remain the Federal Government’s main policy for cutting emissions from mining and industrial projects — a subtle way of asking that a “climate trigger” be taken off the table.

Industry is concerned Labor will cave to the Greens and adopt a policy that could block proposals — or have them referred for assessment under the EPBC Act — based on estimated greenhouse gas emissions.

The Government has given no indication it is prepared to consider legislating a “climate trigger” and is understood to be content using the safeguard mechanism to limit pollution.

But Labor’s refusal to explicitly rule out the idea amid lobbying from the Greens and environmental groups continues to alarm big business.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s office would not be drawn on the prospect of a “climate trigger” when contacted by The Nightly.

A spokeswoman reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to releasing a full exposure draft of the stage three legislation before its introduction to Parliament.

“We’re working methodically on sensible updates to national environment law, so the system works better for both business and nature — something the Liberals promised, but never delivered,” the spokeswoman she said.

“Our goal with these reforms is to reduce duplication, not increase it and to provide more certainty for industry, while protecting the environment.”

The spokeswoman said there were “significant” lessons to be learnt from the WA Government’s botched Aboriginal cultural heritage regime.