Original Coverage: Federal EPA a ‘very high and immediate’ priority of Albanese government, environment minister says

Murray Watt is the new environment minister in the re-elected Labor government. He will travel to Western Australia next week to meet with the premier, Roger Cook, and mining industry leaders whose lobbying helped sink the proposed EPA in the previous term. The Queensland senator said he was also considering dropping the “nature positive’ title for Labor’s wider overhaul of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (Epbc) Watt would not be drawn on the possible design of EPA 2.0, including the option of an agency that enforces nature laws but does not approve projects. The new minister wouldn’t set a deadline for the legislation but has signalled Labor wants to resolve the legislation early in the term, outside the heat of the pre-election period. The Greens have urged the government to be “bold’ as she urged the party to reaffirm its position on native logging and blocking new coalmines and gas fields on 31 May. The Labor frontbencher said it was “certainly his intention” to make a ruling before the deadline rather than seek another extension.

Source: Theguardian.com  |  Read full article