Way back when it was elected in 2022, Australia's Labor Government promised much needed reforms to Australia's environment laws. These laws were delayed time and again, with the Nature Positive Bills only introduced into Parliament in late 2024. If reports are correct, the Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek reached a deal with the Greens to pass them with some amendments, only for the Prime Minister to pull the plug after some strategic lobbying from the WA Premier. Perhaps he felt it was too close to the election and he didn't want to give the Opposition a stick to beat him with. Anyway, finally we have a new bit of legislation in late 2025 and the new Minister, Senator Murray Watt, is suddenly in an awful hurry to have it pass. Unfortunately it's not very good, but fortunately the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee is holding an inquiry into it and taking submissions. Here is mine. If you want to, you can ...
'Contemplating the teeming life of the shore, we have an uneasy sense of the communication of some universal truth that lies just beyond our grasp.' - Rachel Carson