LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Sir – The Territory Labor Government has moved one step closer to introducing its new environment protection legislation following extensive community consultation.
The consultation resulted in 35 stakeholder groups interviewed, 33 written submissions and 178 form letters.
Several amendments to the draft legislation will be made as a result of the consultation process to ensure the legislation retains its principle focus on mitigating the environmental impacts of development while protecting the environment.
The Environment Protection Bill is due to be introduced to Parliament in May and represents the first stage of environmental regulatory reforms promised by the Territory Labor Government.
Establishing a new environment protection legislative framework aims to build community trust, facilitate investor certainty and deliver better environmental outcomes.
The new Bill replaces the current Environmental Assessment Act; provides for a new environmental impact assessment system; provides the introduction of a single environmental approval issued by the Environment Minister; will be supported by new regulations which provide for different levels of assessment; and
enables prescribed timeframes for each decision in the environmental impact assessment system.
A comprehensive response to the submissions received can be viewed together with the Report and individual submissions.
Eva Lawler
Minister for Environment and Natural Resources
Thursday, April 25, 2024
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