Healthy Land & Water was invited to Parliament House recently to present at the public hearing on a raft of proposed amendments to the Environmental Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022. 

Some of the proposed amendments to the Bill include extended investigator powers, expanded executive officer liability, significant changes to transitional environmental programs, and changes to the contaminated land and Environmental Impact Statement frameworks. 

Healthy Land & Water’s submission during the consultation period caught the attention of the parliamentary review committee and our team was invited to present at the public hearing on 7 November 2022. Read on for a summary of some of the key issues put forward by Healthy Land & Water in their submission and at the public hearing. 

Healthy Land & Water’s submission 

Healthy Land & Water’s recommendations focused on ensuring any amendments being considered strengthen the protection of our State’s natural assets and capital, and highlighted where more attention needs to be placed so as not to undermine these efforts. 

Our team led the discussion on a number of important fronts, including: 

• Promoting and supporting the lead role of natural resource management and communities in delivering the most practical and beneficial outcomes for catchment management.  
• Highlighting the need for legislation to be supported by well-designed programs that enable and help landholders to do practical on-ground works. 
• Emphasising the need for transparency and ensuring that every initiative, regardless of its definition, is monitored, measured and that its actual impact is being reported. 
• Highlighting cumulative impacts to Moreton Bay that need to be addressed.  
• Emphasising the gravity and immediacy around the loss of threatened species, given the impact is immeasurable is needs careful consideration within the legislation. 
• Highlighting concerns where some of the amendments could potentially result in negative outcomes. 

The government now has three months to respond to the recommendations. 

If you missed our article about the Bill in the November Nurture, you can read it here. 

If you would like to read the transcript from the hearing (Report No.27, 57th Parliament – Environmental Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022; Transcript 7 November 2022 – HEC – Inquiry into the Environmental Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022), you can read it here.