Standards could allow environmental harm to continue under a veneer of compliance

Melanie Audrey, Biodiversity Policy & Campaign Manager, the Wilderness Society said:

“The government has failed Australians on the most basic promise of stronger environmental laws: stopping extinctions. It is completely unacceptable to call these standards ‘strong’ if threatened species can continue to decline and their habitat can continue to be destroyed while the government claims the rules are being followed.

“Real environmental standards must stop the destruction driving species towards extinction, deliver measurable outcomes and give communities facing these decisions a genuine say. Australians were promised laws that would protect nature — not a system that makes it easier to approve environmental harm.”