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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Adam Morton

Labor’s nature law overhaul contains wins – but we should watch for gremlins in the details

Australia’s environment minister Murray Watt and prime minister Anthony Albanese at a press conference after agreeing a deal with the Greens on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act
Environment minister Murray Watt and Anthony Albanese speak after agreeing a deal with the Greens to amend the EPBC Act. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

We should start at the beginning in assessing the Labor-Greens deal to revamp Australia’s national environment law. And the beginning is that, ideally, you would not start from here.

Despite its name, the 1999 Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act was designed under John Howard to allow developments to go ahead, usually with conditions attached that may limit the damage to nature.

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