Coalition of environment groups demands legal overall

A grand coalition of environment groups has produced a blueprint to reform Australia’s environment laws.

Wilderness Society national campaign manager Lyndon Schneiders says ‘we need streamlined laws with clear objectives and real teeth’. Picture: Hollie Adams

A grand coalition of environment groups claiming 1.5 million ­members has entered the federal election campaign with a blueprint to reform environment laws.

Proposed laws would allow the federal government to override the states on land-clearing and end state-based regional forest agreements. The groups claim the new system would reduce ­litigation and provide greater ­certainty for business.

Wilderness Society national campaign manager Lyndon Schneiders said existing laws ­“create a mass of paperwork that drives business mad”. “We need streamlined laws with clear objectives and real teeth,” he said.

The blueprint is at odds with Coalition policy, which calls for a one-stop shop to delegate federal environment decision-making to the states. The reform agenda laid out by 42 environment groups under the Places You Love banner aims to make the federal government the key decision-maker.

But most decisions would be taken away from government and given to an independent national authority which would act as regulator, planner and adviser.

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt and opposition spokesman Mark Butler have been briefed on the plan and challenged to commit to a timetable for its ­introduction. Both are to appear at the National Press Club today to debate environment policies.

Under the blueprint, within 30 days of being sworn in, the new government would convene a taskforce to commence development of a new environment act and an independent environment authority. The taskforce would be given a year to develop recommendations, with legislation to be introduced in 2018.

Mr Schneiders said it was time for “a new consensus to ... protect the ­environment effectively and with the minimum of bureaucracy”. “The government’s attempt to hand-pass responsibility ... to the states has failed,” he said.

The four key elements of the blueprint are: a new commonwealth environment act within two years; expanding the scope of federal oversight of environmental matters; creating an independent national authority similar to the US Federal Environment Agency; and enshrining accountability, integrity and transparency in decision-making and access to information.

Labor has already ruled out giving environmental decision-making powers to the states. Mr Hunt has remained committed to the one-stop shop despite legislation being blocked in the Senate. The environment groups involved in the blueprint include WWF Australia, Australian Conservation Foundation, Wilderness Society and Greenpeace.