The Federal Government will soon begin consultation on the detail of new ‘nature positive’ environment laws.
Experts from more than 30 groups including environment, business, and industry will be able to carefully examine the detail of the laws to ensure they are as effective as possible.
With the whole package of new laws running over 1000 pages, Government officials will be on hand to explain how the proposed changes are designed to work and how they compare with existing laws.
Consultation on drafts of the new laws will occur on a rolling basis over the coming weeks and months, with the first round of consultation expected to kick off later in October.
“This will allow us to incorporate feedback we get from experts as we go, so we don’t waste a minute,” Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek said.
“We’ll keep working with stakeholders to get the laws ready for introduction into the Parliament next year.
“The Government is getting on with the job of fixing Australia’s environment laws so they better protect the environment and give faster, clearer decisions for business.”
According to the ‘nature positive’ plan, the aim of the new laws are to deliver better environmental protection, speed up decisions, make it easier for companies to do the right thing, and restore integrity and trust to systems and environmental laws.
Plibersek emphasised that it is not a choice between protecting the environment or economic development, and that the current system is frustrating for business and ineffective for the environment.
“As Minister, I will continue to engage with everyone who has a stake in environmental protection and our system of environmental approvals,” she said.