EDS releases scathing submission on Fast-track Approvals Amendment Bill

The Environmental Defence Society has condemned the Fast-track Approvals Amendment Bill in its submission to the Environment Select Committee, warning that it will further weaken environmental safeguards, erode public participation, and undermine constitutional checks and balances.

In their submission they recommend that the most problematic provisions – including the GPS power, constraints on participation, applicant veto of panel members, the Henry VIII clause, and Ministerial direction of the EPA – be removed.

EDS says at a minimum, these changes need to be withdrawn. But more fundamentally, the fast-track law itself remains deeply flawed. It is time to re-examine or repeal it.