Murray Watt thinks he will succeed where Tanya Plibersek failed

New Environment Minister Murray Watt has raised expectations that warring conservation and mining groups will back the Albanese government’s promise to reform nature protection laws, but is staring down demands for a climate trigger to control new fossil fuel projects.

The Albanese government pledged in the 2022 election to strengthen environment laws, but reforms pursued by former environment minister Tanya Plibersek collapsed when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese intervened to torpedo negotiations with the Greens after pushback from Western Australian miners.

Environment Minister Murray Watt says new nature laws will be in parliament by the middle of the current three-year term.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

After his first roundtable meeting with industry groups on Thursday, Watt said there was “broad agreement” from parties including miners, farmers, renewable energy developers, conservation groups and First Nations communities.

“Our current environmental laws aren’t working and desperately need reform. Everyone accepted that this is an urgent task for the country and the parliament,” Watt said.

The 2020 Samuel review of Australia’s environment laws found they were broken. Since colonisation, about 100 of Australia’s unique flora and fauna species have been wiped out. The rate of loss, which is as bad as anywhere else on Earth, shows no sign of slowing, with ongoing habitat degradation and more than 2000 species currently listed as threatened with extinction.

Before he can land reforms, Watt must bridge a divide between the mining industry and conservation lobby or face the spectre of a political campaign from whichever side is disappointed.

Just as Albanese was scuttling Plibersek’s reform push, the mining lobby warned Plibersek’s reforms were “bad for WA, bad for industry”. After Albanese’s intervention, the Australian Conservation Foundation said the government had “left nature in limbo after surrendering to the demands of mining and big business”.

However, in a sign of his confidence, Watt said he could bring a reform bill to parliament within 18 months.

“Everyone participating in today’s meeting agreed that we should be working to that kind of time frame.”

Watt said the meeting agreed on major areas of reform.

They include establishing a national Environment Protection Agency to impose fines on things like mining projects that unlawfully damage their surrounds, new national standards for developments, and selecting potential areas for fast-track construction approvals.

But Watt’s reform is unlikely to include a resurrection of the climate trigger law that would assess the effect on global warming of emissions from polluting projects, such as new coal mines or gas fields, that the Greens insisted on in Plibersek’s bill.

Watt rebuffed repeated questions about a climate trigger on Thursday, arguing the government had imposed the safeguard mechanism to reduce emissions from major projects.

“Our government has passed laws, particularly the safeguard mechanism, that requires heavy emitting industries to cut their emissions 5 per cent a year and get to net zero by 2050. So, it’s not accurate for some out there to be claiming that we’re not doing anything about the climate change impacts of big projects.”

Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie said that while she wanted climate change to be addressed by the reforms, “it doesn’t need to be a climate trigger, there is a whole range of ways that climate can be included in the act.”

Watt can pass his reforms through the Senate with just the support of either the Greens or the Liberals. He does not need the Nationals, which is a boon to Labor because the regional party is unlikely to support tougher environment protections.

The miners are urging the Liberal Party to support the government’s reforms, so it does not need support from the Greens, which would mean tougher rules for new projects.

Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Tania Constable said the meeting was constructive and “it was encouraging to see a shared commitment to engaging in that process”.

Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said she would insist on tough controls for new fossil fuel projects. But she left the door open to reforms that did not necessarily include a climate trigger. “I am open to conversations about how we reduce the destruction of nature.”

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