Labor will introduce to parliament a long-awaited overhaul to national environmental laws before Christmas, after an expedited process was agreed upon at the economic reform roundtable.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said the three-day event had agreed the environment minister, Murray Watt, should proceed more quickly than a planned 18-month timeline. It was one of a flurry of announcements, including progress on road user charging for electric vehicles and a longer-term process to consider major tax reform.
Labor had agreed on a deal with the Greens to pass changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act – including the creation of a national environment protection agency – at the end of 2024. But the plan was scuttled by Anthony Albanese over concerns from electorally sensitive Western Australia.
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Chalmers said more detail on the new timeline would be forthcoming soon. The changes being considered would focus on stronger standards, faster approvals and more transparency, he said. Stakeholders expect progress from Watt by Christmas.
“He’s [Watt] made a heap of progress, and it feels like that hard work that he’s put into it is bearing fruit,” Chalmers said.
Almost five years have passed since Graeme Samuel handed his review of the EPBC Act to the Morrison government, exposing how the systemic failures of successive governments had left Australia’s unique species in unsustainable decline.
Labor has pledged to speed up project approvals, including cutting cumbersome regulations. Similar moves are planned on housing developments, through the National Construction Code and work to progress a backlog of tens of thousands of applications.
A mooted pause on changes to the code did not eventuate, with the housing minister, Clare O’Neil, instead charged with reducing complexity around the rules.
‘Time has come’ for EV road user charges
The shift to electric vehicles around Australia is costing the budget due to falling fuel excise. Chalmers said a new system of road user charging for EV drivers represented “an idea whose time has come”.
State treasurers will meet in early September to discuss an options paper, after delay from national cabinet since 2023, following the high court’s decision to overturn rules put in place by Victoria.
Chalmers said there was healthy consensus on solving the problem, even if a final model was not settled.
He said there was division on whether a new scheme should be introduced through a phased-in approach or a swifter model.
Participants in the roundtable talks considered tax reform options on Thursday.
They agreed another lengthy external review of the tax system would not be advantageous, and instead Treasury will work on options, with some external consultation.
Change could focus on intergenerational fairness in the system, incentivising business investment rules to promote growth and making the system simpler.
In recent days, Chalmers and Albanese had sought to downplay expectations the event could lead to major tax reform in this term of parliament.
Chalmers indicated future changes were possible, but disagreed the talks at Parliament House represented a mandate for the government to act.
“I think our tax system is imperfect, and one of its most troubling imperfections is best seen through intergenerational lens,” Chalmers said.
Ten areas for immediate reform
Chalmers announced 10 areas of consensus on immediate reform directions for Labor’s second term, covering a huge span of policy priorities – such as simplified processes for trade, better regulations and better recognition of workers’ skills and qualifications.
Currently tens of thousands of skilled migrants are working below their qualification level in Australia, with barriers even present across state and territory boundaries.
Longer term reforms include more changes to foreign investment rules, a move to more prefabricated and modular housing and new rules for AI.
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, will consider copyright law reform options, while guidelines for the technology’s application in the public service are also set to be considered.
Business groups praised the “constructive” roundtable process, and said they were ready to continue to work with the government to progress the priorities identified by the treasurer.
“It’s been a very productive three days,” Bran Black, the chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, said.
“It’s easy to be cynical: that not much was achieved, or we should have done more. We’ve started on a pathway of making Australia a better place to work and to invest.
“There’s a lot of work to be done around tax. There’s recognition that we need to make our tax system work better for business, and we’ll get down and do the hard work to achieve that.”
‘A totally different feel and vibe’
Andrew McKellar, the chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, “we want to see the government developing an ambitious agenda for reform that will drive productivity and economic growth in the years ahead”.
“They’ve taken a very consultative approach to this. We appreciate that, and we want to continue forward in the spirit that we’ve had in the past three days.”
Employer groups had entered into the roundtable meetings with some fears of a repeat of Labor’s jobs and skills summit in September 2022, which they believe was cover for the newly elected Albanese government to introduce major workplace reforms.
Innes Willox, the head of the Industry Australia Group, said: “I still have nightmares” about that summit.
“This was a totally different process, a totally different feel and vibe,” Willox said.
“There was a very clear commitment from the government to get consensus where it could, agreement where it could and understandings where it could – to bring everyone together.”
Sally McManus, the secretary of the ACTU, said while there were clear differences within the cabinet room, “in the end there was a lot of common ground” around the need for smart regulation of AI.
“None of us want to see AI used in a way that’s going to destroy jobs. None of us want to see AI leading to theft, as is happening now, of the work of creatives and journalists and also academics.”
