Minister to retain final say on controversial projects under Labor’s long-awaited nature laws
Retention of ministerial powers satisfies key demand of Coalition and industry but disappoints groups who wanted ‘arms-length’ review
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The environment minister will still be responsible for approving projects under new federal nature laws, after Labor rebuffed calls for a completely independent watchdog with full decision-making powers.
The retention of ministerial decision-making powers satisfies a key demand from the Coalition and industry and is not opposed by the Greens.