This week, the Federal Government formally shelved its ‘nature positive’ reform legislation after failing to secure support for the bills in the Senate. While this means we won’t see the bills passed – and an independent federal environmental protection agency established - before the 2025 Federal election, one thing is clear – this is not the end of national environmental law reform in Australia.
In this alert, we cover what happened to the ‘nature positive’ reforms and what happens next.
Background
As explained further in our previous alerts:
- the Australian Government released its Nature Positive Plan in December 2022, serving as the blueprint for the overhaul of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act), which is Australia’s primary piece of national environmental legislation;
- the reform legislation encountered delays before the Nature Repair Market component passed in December 2023 following a last-minute deal with the Australian Greens;
- in April 2024, the Australian Government split its nature reform agenda into 3 stages (with Stage 1 having passed in December 2023 as mentioned above);
- in May 2024, legislation was introduced to Federal Parliament for Stage 2 of the reforms (being the Nature Positive (Environment Protection Australia) Bill 2024 (Cth), the Nature Positive (Environment Information Australia) Bill 2024 (Cth) and the Nature Positive (Environment Law Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2024 (Cth) (Nature Positive Bills)); and
- the Stage 3 reforms - which were the most significant and would heavily shape what ‘nature positivity’ really looked like in Australia – were deferred and not expected to be introduced before the 2025 Federal election.
It is the Stage 2 reforms (comprised of the Nature Positive Bills) which have now been shelved. At a high level, those reforms sought to:
- provide Australia’s first legislative definition of ‘nature positivity’;
- establish Environment Information Australia as an independent data and information body;
- establish Environment Protection Australia as an independent compliance and enforcement body; and
- significantly increase penalties and enforcement powers under the EPBC Act.
Why have the Stage 2 reforms been shelved?
Since their introduction in May 2024, the Nature Positive Bills have struggled to obtain support in the Senate, where the Government does not hold a majority.
While a number of potential deals have reportedly been struck between the Minister for Environment and the Australian Greens over the last 8 months to secure the passage of the Nature Positive Bills, we understand these deals have been vetoed by Prime Minister Albanese, largely due to backlash from the Western Australia Premier.
This week, Federal Parliament returned for the first sitting dates of 2025. On 5 February 2025, the Nature Positive Bills were discharged from the Notice Paper, following statements by Prime Minister Albanese to the media that his Government would not be proceeding with the Stage 2 reforms during this term.
What happens next?
The Stage 2 reforms may have been shelved for now, but this does not signal the end of Australia’s journey to nature positive, nor is it the end of the debate on the need for national environmental law reform.
Firstly, the Albanese Government’s world-first Nature Repair Market (NRM) – which was passed as part of the Stage 1 reforms – is currently still set to go live later in 2025 and will involve projects being carried out to enhance and protect nature. More information about the progress of the new NRM is available in our previous alert. The Government also remains committed to pushing its ‘nature positive’ reforms if re-elected in 2025.
Secondly, there are still calls from industry for faster and more streamlined EPBC Act assessments, with the timeframes for obtaining approvals on the rise. It is not uncommon for the assessment of resources and renewables projects, in particular, to take around 3 years before an approval is issued.
Thirdly, irrespective of the outcome of the Federal election, the findings of the 2020 independent review of the EPBC Act by Professor Graeme Samuel AC still remain:
“Australia’s natural environment and iconic places are in an overall state of decline and are under increasing threat … The EPBC Act is outdated and requires fundamental reform. It does not enable the Commonwealth to effectively fulfil its environmental management responsibilities to protect nationally important matters …”
What seems clear, is that Australia’s environment will be a key issue in the lead up to the 2025 Federal election.
Against this backdrop, it is evident that ‘nature positivity’ in Australia isn’t dead, it’s just dormant for now.
