Almost $130m in this month’s federal budget will go towards slashing so-called “green tape” and removing the need for project-by-project approvals under national environmental laws.
Environment Minister Sussan Ley on Tuesday announced major changes she said would create more jobs in regional and rural areas without compromising on environmental safeguards.
But conservation groups have raised alarm that the changes appear to focus on making things easier for resource extraction rather than protecting nature.
“As anyone who is undertaking a development knows, the longer it takes the more it costs,” Ms Ley told reporters from Mackay.
“Those delays add significantly to cost and from my perspective as environment minister they do nothing for the environment.
“I want to see every step of the reform journey we take add to environmental protection and this announcement does that, but it also enhances economic recovery, jobs and tourism.
“It gives assurance for developments, and they might be developments in renewable energy, they might be significant agricultural developments, they might be any sort of development, but it gives them assurance and it leads to support for the local economy.”
Under the changes, $62.3m would be invested in the delivery of as many as 10 regional environmental protection plans, which could be divided up to include areas like the Bowen Basin in Queensland and Western Australia’s wheatbelt.
“So rather than every single project starting their homework from the beginning with what are the matters of national environmental significance, what is the impact, how do I offset it and what are the next steps I need to take, that work is built in so that any proponent in the area can see what their responsibilities are,” Ms Ley said.
But the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Sophie Power raised concerns about the regional plans.
“Koalas have recently been uplisted to ‘endangered’ in Queensland, NSW and the ACT … to tackle Australia’s extinction crisis we need strong national environment protection laws,” she said.
“We urge the government to provide more information about its proposed regional planning approach – including which ten areas are to designated ‘priority development regions’.”
Under the announcement another $38 million would go toward streamlining assessment processes – including $10 million to move towards a single-touch approval process.
The single-touch system would allow state and territory governments to make decisions for matters of national environmental significance, without the duplication of federal sign off.
It was a recommendation in an independent review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act last year, but it came with the caution there needed to be “rigorous, transparent oversight” by the Commonwealth.
Meanwhile, $12 million would go towards “modernising” environment offset policies, $9.5 million to improving compliance and $5 million to education on protected plants and animals.
A new advisory committee will also be set up to provide expert industry and technology advice to government, at a cost of $2 million.
