An Abbott government move to stop green activists using the courts to challenge development approvals has passed parliament's lower house after a long debate.
But with Labor and the Greens adamantly opposed, Environment Minister Greg Hunt faces a tough lobbying job to get it through the Senate.
The measure follows a Federal Court order, sought by a local environmental group, setting aside Mr Hunt's approval of the proposed Carmichael coal mine in Queensland's Galilee Basin.
Mr Hunt on Thursday told parliament the change would prevent people with no connection to a project except a political agenda from using the courts to disrupt and delay.
However the rights of farmers and other impacted landowners to go to court would not be affected.
Tony Burke, a former Labor environment minister, said he'd made more decisions under the system than anyone else in the parliament.
Only one of his decisions had been successfully challenged in court, and that was based on an administrative error that was soon sorted.
The Carmichael situation was similar, Mr Burke said.
The government had consented to the order because of an error that could have been fixed in a number of weeks.
Instead, the government "manufactured a crisis" to whip up outrage against green groups.
Parliamentary secretary for the environment Bob Baldwin accused green activists of being vandals and legal vigilantes.
Their aim was to disrupt mining developments, causing costly delays and threatening jobs, he said.
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