With only inverted commas signalling the spin, the news media have happily re-cycled the term “green tape”, the latest rhetorical gambit by those decrying environmental protections as unnecessarily delaying…
In my 30 years of research, I keep uncovering long-standing environmental issues the mining industry doesn’t seem to learn from.
Deep cuts to environmental programs and staff predicted in today’s federal budget aren’t the only “green” cuts that Australians should be concerned about. The federal government is currently holding an…
The last few weeks have seen an extraordinary cross party agreement that environmental regulation of development needs reform. The Prime Minister wants coordination with the states streamlined; the Leader…
As governments race to revive economic growth, expect a bonfire of green tape.
The dispute between the Queensland and Commonwealth Governments over the approval of Gina Rinehart’s Alpha Coal Mine continues to escalate with the Prime Minister now backing her Environment Minister…
Proposed changes to Australia’s national environmental law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act (EPBC) 1999, appear to have been shelved. The politics have shifted rapidly. Ultimately, the…
I was a federal environment official for 13 years. Streamlining approvals for big infrastructure projects is a big environmental risk, unless it’s done properly.
Both industry and environmental groups need more certainty over the government’s approvals process. But the recent hectic rhetoric has given them less certainty - and that could be bad for both sides.
Recent news that a gas project in Queensland has been charged with environmental harm has put the spotlight on underground coal gasification, or UCG. Linc Energy’s Chinchilla project was a pilot UCG project…
