Labor has committed to establishing a federal environmental protection agency (EPA) if it wins the next election, following a previous 2022 election promise that was suspended due to political and industry pushback in Western Australia. This commitment aims to address concerns from Labor MPs regarding the party’s green credentials after the government advanced laws protecting Tasmania’s salmon industry from legal challenges, which were prompted by its impact on the endangered Maugean skate. Labor’s environment caucus committee held multiple discussions to agree on the legal intervention and secured guarantees from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that a re-elected Labor government would reform environment protection laws before approving the legislation benefitting salmon farming.
The government has affirmed its intentions to establish a federal EPA as part of the broader strategy to overhaul Australia’s “flawed” environment laws, although a similar promise was made by Labor before the 2022 election. The EPA would enforce “national standards” to ensure compliance across all conservation plans and policies. The commitment comes after previous statements from Albanese insisting that Labor was not forsaking environmental protection reforms, even as the establishment of a nature watchdog was moved off the agenda in February.
This pledge to implement a federal EPA aims to ease internal concerns about Labor’s environmental track record but could provoke further criticism in WA, where a federal EPA is contentious among industries and the state government. The government intends to consult with state governments, environmental organizations, and industries on the new watchdog model and is looking to amend the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act to eliminate mining and gas projects from a formal reconsideration into a 2012 decision that was a part of an expansion of fish farming in Macquarie Harbour.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/24/labor-vow-federal-epa-second-term-environment
