Watt says nature law reform is ‘immediate priority’

The former agriculture minister travelled to WA to kickstart conversations on new legislation.

An overhaul of Australia’s nature laws is at the top of new Environment Minister Murray Watt’s agenda.

In his second week in the job, Mr Watt travelled to Western Australia last week to meet with the Cook government and peak environment, mining and industry groups to restart discussions on reforms needed to federal laws governing the protection of significant Australian plants, animals and ecological sites from development.

“Delivering on our election commitment to pass reforms to our environmental laws, including

a federal Environment Protection Authority, is an immediate priority for the Albanese Government,” Mr Watt said.

Mr Watt said two days of meetings in Perth last week confirmed there was widespread support to deliver reform.

New Environment Minister Murray Watt has wasted no time consulting on updating Australia’s nature protection laws.

WA was home to the most resistance to former environment minister Tanya Plibersek’s revamped Nature Positive laws, which were broken into three tranches of legislation in early 2024.

The overhaul included a nature repair market, which was legislated in December last year, and the creation of a federal EPA, designed to be a new environmental watchdog that could make decisions on major applications and impose penalties.

The Bill establishing an EPA was withdrawn from the Senate in February after it was clear it hasn’t won over the crossbench or the Greens and was likely to jeopardise votes in WA ahead of the federal election.

It is unclear whether this Bill will be rewritten from scratch or simply tweaked.

“At this early stage, I have an open mind on the specific details of the reforms,” Mr Watt said. “I will continue to listen to all views, and put together the broadest possible support for environmental reforms.”

The National Farmers’ Federation is yet to be consulted, but president David Jochinke said he was keen to be part of the conversation.

“Our priorities are clear: reduce duplication, improve decision-making time frames, and preserve ‘continuing use’ provisions under the EPBC Act, practical steps that support both farmers and the environment,” Mr Jochinke said.

The peak farmer lobby has been pushed for reforms to the EPBC Act for years to simplify the legislation and reduce “green tape”.

Meanwhile, Australian farmers have been given a reprieve by the European Union, which has categorised imported beef from Australia as being of “low-risk” to contributing to deforestation, according to its new deforestation regulations coming into effect at the end of the year.