Labor’s ‘Once-in-a-Generation’ Environment Bill Introduced, New Protection Agency Slated

CANBERRA, Australia—The Albanese government’s long-awaited overhaul of Australia’s environment laws has finally returned to Parliament.

The Environment Protection Bill 2025, introduced by Minister Tony Burke, aims to replace the two-decade-old EPBC Act with a swathe of new changes, including forcing companies to disclose the estimated carbon emissions of a project.

“This package of bills is a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” Burke told the House on Oct. 30, urging MPs not to repeat “years of drift and failed attempts under governments of both sides.”

Despite Labor’s urgency, the Senate has extended its inquiry into the bill to March 2026, delaying any chance of passage this year.

What the Bill Actually Does

The bill will create a National Environment Protection Agency that can investigate breaches and enforce rules. The agency will operate independently from the minister.

It also requires developers to ensure they leave the natural environment better off than before a project commences and ends— known as “net environmental gain”—either through habitat restoration or paying into a government fund for such work.

A new “unacceptable impacts” test allows the government to quickly reject proposals that would clearly damage the most sensitive and important environments.

Major projects must publicly report their carbon emissions and their plans to cut them. However, emissions alone cannot be a reason to block a project.

The bill also lets state governments carry out environmental assessments on behalf of the Commonwealth where they meet federal standards, to make approvals faster.

Finally, it gives the environment minister a limited “national interest override” power to approve projects even if they don’t meet the standards. The government says this would only apply in rare cases such as defence or emergency developments.

Environment Minister Murray Watt argued the overhaul is essential to lift environmental standards and cut delays, saying approval times have blown out from 48 weeks to 118 weeks, stalling renewable, housing and infrastructure investments.

“Delays help no one—not the environment, not the economy,” Watt said in an address to the National Press Club.

He rejected suggestions the override power could be used to fast-track fossil fuel projects.

“I cannot see that happening because of how we have structured this bill.”

Opposition Flags ‘Unworkable’ Powers

Shadow Environment Minister Angie Bell called the draft “a grim picture for jobs, investment and productivity,” accusing Labor of creating uncertainty and concentrating power in Canberra.

The shadow minister said the Coalition had “entered into good faith negotiations with the government,” but warned that “at the moment, these bills are unworkable.”

She argued the legislation hands the new federal Environment Protection Agency too much unchecked authority. Under the bill, the EPA boss would be a statutory appointment that does not report to the minister and cannot be dismissed by them.

“The minister won’t be able to sack that individual. It’ll have to be the governor-general that does that,” she said, calling it a shift that could create “broad, sweeping powers,” she told ABC radio.

The Coalition wants the government’s proposed “unacceptable impacts” test moved out of the legislation and into the national environmental standards—as recommended by the Samuel Review—and says the current bill cherry-picks from that report.

“The EPA was not in the Graham Samuel review. Graham Samuel said he wanted to see a commissioner, not a statutory appointment that is not able to be sacked by the minister.”

The Coalition also objects to shifting project emissions reporting into the environmental laws rather than leaving it under the safeguard mechanism.

“We feel it should stay there … because if it were to be in the EPBC Act, it would be open to legal challenges, and we don’t want that to be a … handbrake on investment in our country.”

Greens Say Labor Has Bent to Mining Lobby

On the other side of the political spectrum, the Greens argue the bill weakens nature protections and caters to fossil fuel interests.

Greens environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young accused Labor of “doing the bidding of the mining lobby,” saying the bill still permits native forest logging and fails to stop new coal and gas approvals.

“It fails the most basic test—it does not stop environmental destruction,” she told reporters.

Ahead of the last attempt at reform, Western Australia’s refusal to sign on—amid fears it would unsettle the mining sector before a state election—help sink the EPBC overhaul.

Asked whether that roadblock has been cleared, Hanson said WA was the first place she visited after being sworn in and his talks with Premier Roger Cook have been positive.

“Every time I’ve met with the premier it’s been a really constructive meeting. He supports reform.”

The Greens also want a climate trigger, stronger Indigenous decision-making input, and an end to native forest logging.