Wednesday, March 16, 2022

'Regional Plans' - should we be worried?

The Guardian 15th March 2022 LINK:

“The Morrison government has announced it will remove the need for developments in some areas to receive project-specific approval under national environment laws, in a step conservationists fear will further weaken nature protection.”

“…the government was considering using a little-used section of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to allow some developments to be given the green light as part of a regional plan without consideration of the impact of the project itself.”

“A review of the EPBC Act led by the former competition watchdog head Graeme Samuel last year found the environment was suffering from two decades of failure by governments to improve protection and called for an overhaul of Australia’s conservation laws to address a “trajectory of environmental decline. The Coalition is yet to formally respond to his review.”

The Guardian 16th Mar 2022 LINK:

“Environment groups have described a Morrison government plan to remove the need for federal environmental approval for developments in some regions as a “step towards an industry free-for-all” rather than an effort to protect nature.”

“The Wilderness Society (TWS) said it was deeply concerned the Coalition was pledging funding with the apparent aim of “circumventing environment protections for some of Australia’s most iconic and sensitive natural landscapes and wildlife”.

“The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) called for more information from the government about its proposed regional planning approach and where the 10 priority areas would be. ‘We are concerned the government’s approach appears to focus on making things easier for resource extraction industries, rather than protecting nature,’ Power said.”

 

 

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