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The Coalition says it cannot support once-in-a-generation reforms to Australia's environment laws in their current form, as deep negotiations on the legislation begin. The massive 1,500-page package was introduced to parliament on Thursday, after months of meetings between Environment Minister Murray Watt and stakeholders to rewrite reforms that failed to win support last term. From the beginning, Senator Watt has said that nobody would get everything they wanted — including himself, suggesting that the federal government would be open to amendments in order to see the laws passed. Speaking on ABC Insiders, Senator Watt said he was "very confident" the bill could be passed with the support of either the Coalition or Greens. "What we're seeking to do here … is achieve a balanced package of reforms," he said. Senator Watt said while the government was not prepared to fully dump the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the government had not made a "final decision" on its shape, including whether its CEO could be sacked by a minister — one of the Coalition's asks. The minister said there was also "room to move" to end native forestry's exclusion from the Act, a key demand of the Greens. This morning, Shadow Environment Minister Angie Bell told Sky News if the legislation remained as it was "we can't agree to it". "We have some grave concerns about the EPBC reforms the government is putting forward," Ms Bell said. "No stakeholders are happy, we're worried about jobs, we're worried about investment and we're certainly worried about productivity." Alongside the EPA's leadership, Ms Bell has expressed concerns about definitions requiring a "net gain" when remediating environmental damage from a project, changes to an "unacceptable impact" clause that could be used to block projects and the removal of emissions reporting requirements. Ms Bell did not rule out the possibility of a deal being struck this year. But with an inquiry on the proposed laws set to run until early next year, Ms Bell suggested she would not hurry negotiations. "He's ramming it through the parliament, at the beginning of the term he was saying he was going to take 12 to 18 months … now suddenly there is a dash to the finish line," Ms Bell said. "Why is he running it through? Because it's got so many holes in it." Ministerial power could be used to fast-track critical minerals projects The environment minister also indicated that intervention powers in the bill could be used to force approvals of critical mineral mining projects. The government struck an agreement with United States President Donald Trump last month to step up investment in critical minerals, as western nations seek to break dependency on China for those commodities. That agreement included a stipulation that both nations would take measures "to accelerate, streamline, or deregulate permitting timelines and processes, including for permits for critical minerals and rare earths mining, separation, and processing". The proposed power would allow a minister to override environmental decisions if there was a "defence or national security" need, though the bill does not explicitly limit the power's use outside of that. Senator Watt said critical mineral projects could theoretically be approved under that intervention power. "That will be obviously up to the minister of the day, and it will require a full environmental assessment for that particular project," he said. "But, yes, under the legislation, if the minister of the day decided that particular project was in the national interest, and a full environmental assessment had occurred to minimise those environmental impacts, if it was still in the national interest to proceed, then the minister would have the ability to approve that." The minister also would not rule out that the power could be used to approve a gas project, walking back language on how the power could be used. Senator Watt told the ABC last week he "cannot see that happening" based on how the bill was drafted. This morning, he said a similar power already existing had been used 27 times in two decades, 17 of which had been in response to natural disasters and recovering near-extinct species. "So they're the kind of things it's typically used for and I think there are pretty good guide," he said. Senator Watt said he was open to hearing what could be "tweaked" in order to see the laws passed.
