The author of an independent review that spurred Australia's biggest environment overhaul in a generation has said he is "satisfied after five torturous years" to see his work finally realised.
Professor Graeme Samuel delivered his landmark review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act in October 2020, finding the nation's core environmental legislation was ineffective and not fit to address current or future environmental challenges.
Five years on, as the Albanese government introduced its long-awaited replacement bill in parliament, Samuel said the proposed reforms faithfully implement the "totality" of the recommendations.
"You'll have to excuse a bit of satisfaction on my face," the former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission told SBS News.
"There is no variation in any significant or indeed in any small way from the recommendations of the review. That's why I'm satisfied … after five torturous years."
'Not a zero-sum game'
The reforms mark a significant turning point in a debate that has spanned several governments.
The EPBC Act, passed in 1999 under the Howard government, was intended to protect threatened species and nationally significant ecosystems; however, critics have long argued it has failed to halt environmental decline.
The 2020 review recommended a new system centred on national environmental standards, enhanced transparency, and an independent regulator to enforce the rules.
After years of political stalemate, Environment Minister Murray Watt introduced the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025 on Thursday, promising faster approvals for housing, mining and renewable projects without compromising environmental safeguards.
"Reform can and will be done," Watt told the National Press Club (NPC) on Thursday.
"We've got one shot at this. We've got a once-in-a-generation chance to deliver reforms that see our environment and business gain, just like Professor Samuel recommended five years ago today," Watt said.
For Samuel, the bill represents a moment of vindication.
"I think we've achieved with this legislation efficiency and efficacy, and we've met the aspirations of all those that embraced it back in 2020," he said.
"I say to the Greens, and I say to the Coalition … please, please stop your political games and get on with this legislation, because this is one way for our children, our grandchildren, our great-great grandchildren, for future generations, to finally get effective environmental protection."
Political battle looms
Despite Samuel's overwhelming endorsement, an uphill battle in parliament remains. It's thought to be one of the biggest tests of the government's negotiating power.
Neither the Opposition nor the Greens are happy with the legislation — both ruling out support in its current form.
The Senate voted on Thursday to refer the reforms to an inquiry with a reporting date of 24 March 2026.
Opposition leader Sussan Ley, who led the previous review process as then-environment minister in 2020, has called the reforms an "environment approvals disaster".
"It ties bureaucratic tape around every single process; it doesn't give proponents of projects the confidence they need to be able to go ahead," Ley said last week.
Greens leader Larissa Waters described the proposal as "1,400 pages gift-wrapped for big business", arguing it contains environmental loopholes and fails to include a "climate trigger" to stop high-emitting proposals.
"What we've seen today from the government is 1,400 pages gift-wrapped for big business, gift-wrapped for the mining lobby, gift-wrapped for the big loggers, gift-wrapped for the big end of town," she said on Thursday.
Samuel rejected both criticisms, insisting the law faithfully reflects all 38 recommendations of his review.
"I just don't think they're reading the legislation properly and understanding what the minister has produced with this," he said.
"They've put a very, very careful set of guard rails around actions by regulators and the minister … This is very carefully guided by the national environmental standards."
Before the NPC, Watt said: "No-one is going to get 100 per cent of what they want. If everyone gets 100 per cent of what they want, we will get nothing."
'Urgent for decades'
While the government hopes for a short, month-long Senate inquiry so the bill can pass before Christmas, the extension of the reporting means passage is unlikely this year.
Samuel said any further delay would be unacceptable.
"This has been urgent for decades, frankly, for two and a half decades," he said.
Samuel said the bill reflects years of negotiation among scientists, conservationists, industry, and farmers, and represents a "quantum leap forward" for both business certainty and nature protection.
"Take it, this is a major step forward, and then we can move on and start dealing with things that are of substantial interest, and things that are fundamental to our future generations in this country, in dealing with nature.
"If you've got this report that has satisfied the aspiration for all the major stakeholder groups … What are we waiting for?"
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