CHANGES TO COMMONWEALTH POWERS TO PROTECT AUSTRALIA’S ENVIRONMENT
COAG’s April 2012 agreement to hand over Commonwealth environmental approval powers to state governments puts at risk decades of environmental reform, and risks the health of nationally and internationally significant environmental assets which the Commonwealth has an obligation to protect.
There is no justification for handing the Commonwealth’s approval powers under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to the states. Instead, this statement proposes an alternative suite of reforms to help deliver COAG’s dual goals to “reduce regulatory burden and duplication for business” and at the same time “deliver better environmental outcomes” for Australia.