In the coming two weeks, significant reforms will be introduced to parliament during its penultimate sitting term of the year. However, these changes are expected to encounter considerable resistance from both the Coalition and the Greens.

For the legislation to pass through the Senate, Labor requires the backing of at least one of these parties.

This morning, Environment Minister Murray Watt urged both the opposition and the minor party to support the proposed laws, stressing that failing to do so could jeopardize several critical initiatives, including the extraction of vital minerals.

“If we don’t pass these reforms, we risk missing out on Australia’s vast potential to become a leading supplier of critical minerals globally,” he stated during an interview with Sky News.

“That’s not our only concern; without these laws, the delivery of urgently needed housing will continue to be delayed,” he added.

“It will slow down the delivery of the energy projects that we need.”

Before Watt’s comments, senior Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie criticised the laws, claiming they could impede that deal.

“I can’t see this type of legislation making that easier to get the environmental approvals,” she told Sky.

Modernising Australia’s outdated environmental laws has been a source of contention for many years now.

A review in 2020 – when current Opposition Leader Sussan Ley was the environment minister – found the 1999 Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act “requires fundamental reform”, is “a barrier to holistic environmental management which… is essential for success” and isn’t trusted by the public.

While previous environment minister Tanya Plibersek was on the verge of landing reforms – known as the “nature positive” laws – last year, that was vetoed at the last minute by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and the package was shelved before the federal election.

Watt’s bid to reform the EPBC Act comes with the government under pressure to cut back on red and green tape in a bid to boost economic productivity and quicken and simplify the approval process for important infrastructure, such as housing.

At the same time, with Australia suffering from deforestation, species loss and other environmental issues, the Greens have criticised the proposed reforms as too weak.

“It is an embarrassment that the environment minister would put forward this proposal when it does so little to protect nature, and in fact weakens an already weak piece of legislation,” Greens leader Larissa Waters said. 

But Ley said the laws were “completely unreasonable” because they make projects too difficult for businesses.

“Labor’s approach to environmental laws is actually a handbrake on projects,” she said. 

“It’s a red light to jobs and it’s a gift to our overseas competitors who are attracting this investment elsewhere.”

Watt said he was open to any amendments the opposition or Greens wished to propose, but added the contrasting criticism proved the government had got the balance right after months of consultation.

“Over the last couple of days we’ve seen the Coalition say that this legislation is too good for the environment, we’ve seen the Greens say that it’s too good for business,” he said.

“It sounds to me like we’ve got the balance pretty right.”