Consultation to start on environmental laws

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The federal government will start consultation on new environmental laws shortly, some two months ahead of schedule said Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek.

Experts from more than 30 groups, including environment, business and industry, will be able to carefully examine the detail to make sure the laws will be as effective as possible.

“The new laws are complex. The whole package will run to over 1 000 pages. This early consultation will help make sure we get the detail right,” the Minister said this week.

The first round of consultation will kick off later in October.

Government officials will be on hand to explain how the proposed changes are designed to work and how they compare with the existing laws.  

“Consultation on drafts of the new laws will occur on a rolling basis over the coming weeks and months. This will allow us to incorporate feedback we get from experts as we go, so we don’t waste a minute.

“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,” Plibersek added.