Australian news and politics live: Parliament greenlights landmark environmental law reforms

Reforms to Australia’s environmental laws have passed the Federal Parliament more than five years after a major review into the outdated laws.

It comes after Labor struck a deal with the Greens this week on the legislation which amends the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1991.

Politicians had stayed back in Canberra on Friday after the landmark bill passed the Senate overnight.

The bill was passed in the House of Representatives 89-34 and was met with applause from members voting in favour and silence from the Coalition.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and her Coalition colleagues have been vocal in the House of Representatives today for an extended sitting on Australia’s environmental laws.

In response to the Bill returning from the Senate after Labor struck a deal with the Greens instead of Coalition, Ms Ley accused them of making “economy wrecking” concessions to ram the Bill through Parliament.

Ms Ley has accused the parties of bringing the “Labor-Greens Alliance back in business” for a “lazy deal with the Greens”.

“This is economy-wrecking. There were people the Prime Minister didn’t reference in his remarks that need to be referenced, these are the people who pay the country’s bills, who provide jobs, who make our country strong, and who have been completely ignored by the Bill and by the amendments.”

She went on to reference the Minerals Council calling the changes “inferior” and energy producers saying it will “put approvals in the slow lane”.

“You have no gas strategy now. You have nothing to provide the power and the affordability to bring people’s energy prices down,” Ms Ley said, as her party heckled towards Labor behind her.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has slammed the Coalition over their handling of negotiations for reforms to Australia’s environmental laws.

In a stinging speech in the House on Friday morning, he accused the Coalition of being a “mess” when responding to Labor’s “good faith negotiations”. Labor has instead struck a deal with the Greens.

“Tragically, the mess that sits opposite us was incapable of coming up with plans that were consistent, that made sense,” the PM said, cheered on by MPs behind him.

“They changed their position from hour to hour, coming up with furphies about radioactivity and all sorts of things that needed to be included.”

He also accused them of “ignoring” the major review of Australia’s environment laws they commissioned Professor Graeme Samuel to undertake while Opposition leader Sussan Ley was then-Environment Minister.

Mr Albanese thanked his minister Murray Watt for getting the deal across the line after 120 meetings since taking on the portfolio after their May 3 election win.

Australia’s overhauled environmental laws have returned to the House of Representatives after they were passed following Labor’s deal with The Greens in the Senate.

Speaker Milton Dick kicked off the start of an extended session on Friday to say that the Senate had reviewed and agreed to the Bill and asked the House to concur the amendments.

In moving that the amendments be agreed to, the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the reforms as a “a win for business, a win for our natural environment, and a win for the country”.

“They mean more investment, more jobs, more housing and more infrastructure,” he said.

“They protect something that every Australian values and has a deep connection to; our treasured and unique natural environment.

“We know that the current laws are broken. Today, we fix them.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has walked to work for his last day of sitting for 2025.

Donning a white hat with his suit and flanked by security, the PM walked from his Canberra residence The Lodge up Capital Hill to Parliament House.

The last sitting day was supposed to be on Thursday but politicians have returned on Friday for an extended session to pass the overhaul of the outdated environmental laws.

It comes after Labor snubbed the Coalition yesterday and struck a deal on the laws with The Greens.

“What a beautiful environment. It’s a good day for the environment,” he said briefly as he walked by news cameras.

After he claimed a 94-seat majority in the May 3 election, Mr Albanese had walked to work with his son for the first day of sitting.

Landmark environmental law reforms will be signed off in Parliament as industry groups work through the impact of the changes.

The Greens agreed to support Labor’s long-awaited rewrite of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act after securing concessions amid tense negotiations and a tight deadline.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared the reforms marked a “new era for the environment and productivity”.

The laws passed the Senate on Thursday night and will be signed off in the House of Representatives on Friday morning.

The reforms are inspired by Graeme Samuel’s 2020 review of environmental laws, promising to better protect nature through environmental standards while speeding up project approvals.

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Liberal senator Jane Hume has slammed the Albanese Government’s handling of energy prices, branding its bill rebates “a Band-Aid on a bullet hole” as inflation and power costs continue to climb.

“We prefer to see the Government tackle the problem at the source and deliver on its promise to bring energy prices down,” Senator Hume told Sunrise on Friday, urging Labor to deliver on its long-promised $275 cut to household energy bills instead of relying on temporary relief.

She argued rising prices are making Australians poorer, blaming government spending for fuelling inflation. Health Minister Mark Butler defended the rebates, insisting they were always designed to be temporary.

“Everyone recognises they can’t go on forever,” he said. “They were put in place (when the) invasion of Ukraine spiked energy prices right around the world.”

“Cost of living relief is important. It has been for the last few years as we’ve seen global inflation but we’ve got to design it to keep inflation as low as possible.”