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Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is preparing to reject the prospect of a deal with the government on its landmark plans to revamp the nation’s nature laws and speed up approvals for housing and green energy projects. The long-delayed bill was killed off last term after blowback from miners and the pro-fossil fuel Western Australian government prompted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to put negotiations with the Greens on ice. Labor has resurrected the push this term after it emerged from Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ economic roundtable as one of the few reforms with wide-scale support. Leaked details of the updated legislation emerged yesterday, sparking anxiety from environmentalists who fear it will accelerate habitat destruction and business groups who claim it will hand the government broad powers to veto investment. The Opposition said then it would wait to assess the bill before making a decision. But Coalition sources said Ley was now concerned that the legislation would give broad power to the environment minister to block projects, allow developments to be blocked for climate reasons and impose big fines on industry.
