"Death Of 1,000 Cuts" For Australian Environmental Laws
Australia’s environment laws are suffering a “death by a thousand cuts”, conservationists have warned, after the government unveiled plans to amend the key legislation that protects endangered species. Greg Hunt, the environment minister, has put forward a bill that would mean he would suffer no recourse if he approved major developments without taking expert advice.
The bill adds a clause to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act which states that a decision to approve a development will not be invalid “merely because the minister failed” to receive “relevant approved conservation advice”.
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While the environment minister will still be required to consider expert advice, there will be no penalty for failing to do so. Jess Abrahams, the healthy ecosystems campaigner at the Australian Conservation Foundation, told Guardian Australia that Hunt was reducing his accountability to protect endangered species.
“These are weasel words, in many ways, because the minister can ignore advice with no recourse at all,” he said. “Review and recourse from third parties to government decisions is an essential part of democracy, so it’s very worrying this is being removed. “Environmental protection is suffering a death by a thousand cuts at the moment. Laws are being weakened and approvals are being handed over to the states, which have a questionable record of protecting the environment.
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http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/15/australias-environment-laws-suffering-death-by-thousand-cuts
