Report after report shows Australia failing to arrest the decline of its natural ecosystems. You would think this government might be more likely to care, having said it would but, no.
The recommendations from the Samuel Review have been ignored, deforestation continues despite the promise to end it and new coal and gas projects are routinely given the OK.
The ‘Nature Positive bill’ was going to establish Environment Protection Australia and the rest was hardly more than rhetoric and streamlining approvals but, with the support of the Opposition, it was ditched thanks apparently because of strong lobbying by business and mining sectors.
A senior Labor insider told The Saturday Paper:
“This close to an election, we just could not afford to have the most powerful business interests in the country screaming that we were putting thousands of jobs at risk.”
The agency was supposed to enforce environmental laws, improve transparency and speed up development approvals while enacting stronger nature and wildlife protections.
See here for our plan for the environment.