The Federal Government’s contentious Nature Positive reforms remain in flux following the release of a Senate committee report that confirmed widespread industry concern about the proposed changes.
The report, which was handed down by the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee yesterday, included a large number of dissenting reports. 
As of today, the Federal Government is negotiating with the Greens on the Nature Positive Bill to establish a National Environment Protection Authority, including a climate trigger to stop new mineral projects.
CCIWA is fiercely opposed to a national EPA, with the Senate report acknowledging the concerns.
“Amid a highly telling and instructive set of comments during the business panel component of the public hearing on 26 July, Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA (CCIWA) Chief Economist and Director of Policy, Influence and Strategy, Mr Aaron Morey, encapsulated the views of many of the inquiry’s participants from Australian industry,” the report said.
“To say our Members are concerned with the direction of this agenda would be an understatement. Mining companies have said a new federal EPA risks making it difficult to start new projects, compromising the ability for those companies to continue to generate jobs for future Western Australians; utility companies are concerned that it would be more difficult to develop new electricity transmission infrastructure, making it harder to connect new 84 sources of renewable energy to the grid; tourism businesses are concerned it will be difficult to get new projects up; exploration companies are concerned about their ability to get new critical minerals mines up in areas like cobalt, copper and lithium; and housing and construction companies are concerned these changes could limit future housing developments, pushing up rents and housing prices and, in so doing, exacerbating a cost-of-living crisis.”
CCIWA called for an overhaul of the radical environmental approvals reforms during the Senate Committee hearing in Canberra in July.
In its submission to the Committee, CCIWA argued the body will duplicate approvals already happening at a State level and raised serious concerns about the proposed body’s governance.
Morey today noted the release of the Senate Committee’s report, saying “CCIWA was pleased to have been given the opportunity to travel to Canberra for the public hearings last month to outline the significant threat this Bill poses to the West Australian economy”.
“We argued that the establishment of a National EPA in Canberra that would have the power to block major projects, without considering the economic and social benefits, would deal a major blow to WA’s economic prosperity,” he said.
“We remain optimistic that the Government will heed those concerns and wind back some of the powers of the proposed body, in order to get the Bill through Parliament and to avoid ending up with a set of laws that will damage WA’s economy.”
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