‘Let’s get it done’: Albanese puts confidence behind his Government to reform Australia’s environmental laws

Anthony Albanese is “confident” his government can push through an overhaul of the nation’s environmental protection laws in its second term. Premier Roger Cook and business leaders have been wary of environmental reforms after the “Nature Positive” disaster last year, but the Prime Minister told The West Australian he believed industry was now on board with the need for change. As he flew back from a six-day trip in China on Friday, Mr Albanese said he was “very confident” West Australian businesses, including the Chamber of Minerals and Energy, saw the need for improving an existing system that was “not fit for purpose.” “Things are held up for too long and you don’t get the right outcomes. We want sustainable outcomes to be looked after, we want things to be done more efficiently as well, and industry wants that, environmental groups want that, let’s get it done,” he said in an exclusive interview. Mr Albanese promised during the Federal election campaign that Labor would start from scratch with plans to reform environmental approval laws and the creation of an independent Federal watchdog after its failed attempt to push through “Nature Positive” legislation last year. It followed pressure from Mr Cook, who expressed concern the legislation could cause “significant delays” to project approvals, and the CCIWA, which warned it could tangle renewable energy projects in red tape, and send electricity and residential land costs skyrocketing. Mr Albanese said he also hoped the much-needed streamlining of environmental approval processes would be a key plank of an upcoming productivity roundtable next month. The Prime Minister linked reforms to environmental legislation directly to improving business efficiency, advocating for the topic to be thrashed out at an economic reform roundtable in August that will draw together industry, trade union and investment chiefs to brainstorm how to improve the nation’s productivity levels. “We hope that this is one of the issues that will be discussed at the productivity roundtable,” he said. “There is a lot of duplication, there is a lot of bureaucracy that doesn’t improve outcomes. We want good outcomes done efficiently.” The likelihood of environmental protection laws becoming a key feature of the highly-anticipated forum in Canberra has been raised by the addition of former Treasury boss Ken Henry to the guest list. Dr Henry told the National Press Club last week that overcoming environmental policy paralysis was vital to both boosting productivity as well as protecting nature. The need to tackle slow approval processes has also been raised in discussions between Environment Minister Murray Watt and business and environmental groups as the new Government prepares for another battle to push through its reforms. The Government has not yet revealed whether plans to set up a Federal watchdog will be combined with a revamp of the approvals process and laws or tackled separately as it was under the failed Nature Positive attempt. Senator Watt is expected to soon detail the next phase of consultation for a renewed attempt at a sweeping overhaul of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Mr Albanese did not commit to a time frame for his Government’s revived push on environmental legislation in a sweeping interview that also addressed Labor plans to invest more in the Henderson shipyard and to place WA at the centre of a renewed trade relationship with China. Sir Stephen Lovegrove, the UK’s special envoy for AUKUS - the $368 billion trilateral defence pact with Britain and United States to deliver nuclear-powered submarines to Australia - this month urged Canberra to “look carefully” at whether more investment was needed in Henderson. A new defence precinct at Henderson is already building Army landing craft and will be the home of depot-level maintenance and contingency docking for SSN-AUKUS subs, but no date has been set for a dry dock to be built for full-cycle maintenance, out of the water. Mr Albanese said the Government was monitoring its plan and “will invest whatever is necessary.” There was already “considerable” investment in Henderson, he said. “There will be thousands of jobs created there.” Mr Albanese would not be drawn on whether a Pentagon review, led by policy chief Elbridge Colby, may address progress at Henderson. “It’s not our review,” he said, but added that AUKUS was not only in Australia’s interests but in the interests of the US and the UK. “All of the public policy makers that I have spoken to in the United States and the UK have agreed with that assessment,” he said. The Prime Minister made his comments as he returned from a trade-focussed visit to China that included extensive talks between Australian and Chinese industry chiefs on expanding investment opportunities and green energy collaboration. Western Australia was “absolutely central” to the country’s reinvigorated trade relationship with China, he said. “One of the things that is very clear is that Western Australia understood the importance of the relationship between Australia and China and West Australians do as well - that it’s about jobs and our economy as well as about stability in our region.”