Stronger Environment Protections Now

PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT

Together, we can protect our forests, wildlife, and critical habitats from destruction – but we need your support. Let’s create a future where nature thrives.

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The Greens have secured significant improvements to Australia’s environment laws that will:

  • Provide new protections for native forests
  • Better regulate land clearing
  • Stop Labor’s 30 day fast-track of coal and gas projects

These are outcomes that forest campaigners have fought for across decades.

We said from the start that the Greens wouldn’t accept a bill that would take nature backwards. This is what happens when you have Greens in parliament who refuse to back down from our values. 

Labor’s first draft was a wish list for destruction: it would have further gutted our broken environment laws and made it easier and faster for coal and gas corporations to get approvals.

This bill is better than the laws we have now, and it is significantly better than what would have been delivered if the government had done a deal with the climate-deniers in the Coalition.

But while we’ve held off the worst of Labor’s plans, they straight up refused to take meaningful climate action. 

Ending the fast-tracks for coal and gas was the best we could get from a party completely captured by their coal and gas donors. This is our fight.   

The only thing that Labor listens to is political pressure. And we can’t do that without you. 

Join the fight to take on the major parties and their corporate donors who are wrecking our environment.

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN

WHAT THE GREENS HAVE SECURED:

  • New protections for native forests: Native forest logging will now be included under Federal Environment Laws, after being exempt for over two decades. This ends the carve out that has let big logging corporations trash our native forests with no accountability – a huge blow to logging corporations, with compensation for the workers.
  • Closed the loopholes for land clearing: Most land clearing has never been assessed under national environment laws. Removing the exemption will provide greater protection for habitat and threatened species right across the country, including protections around the Great Barrier Reef.
  • Stopped Labor‘s plan to fast-track coal and gas: Labor’s proposed bill would have given polluting corporations special treatment, fast-tracking their approvals so they could make bigger profits and cause more damage. We have stopped coal and gas using fast tracks contained in the draft laws, so projects can’t be approved within 30 days, as Labor originally proposed.
  • Saved the water trigger: Labor was trying to weaken the laws that protect our water supply from polluting coal and gas projects. This is a key tool for First Nations communities fighting gas corporations in the NT and in WA.
  • Ensured the Federal Minister can always step in to protect the environment: He cannot wash his hands of responsibility by giving unchecked environmental decision-making powers to the states and territories. Just like for the Franklin River, the Federal Minister retains the power to step in to protect the environment. 
  • Further protections for endangered species habitat: On expert advice, species can be excluded from “pay to destroy” plans so environment wrecking corporations can’t get away with destruction and wrecking their habitats.
  • Secured the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and stronger penalties: This will have the power to hold corporations wrecking the environment to account.