WWF-Australia has called on parliament to strengthen reforms to Australia's environment laws and close loopholes that allow native forests to be bulldozed and threaten iconic places like the Great Barrier Reef.
Environment Minister Murray Watt has today tabled legislation designed to fix the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC).
WWF-Australia's CEO, Dermot O'Gorman, said: "We welcome the introduction of the government's nature reform package, but as it stands the proposed legislation must be strengthened to ensure it does what it says on the tin: protect nature.
"As this legislation moves through parliament, we urge all politicians to tackle the two greatest threats to our wildlife and wild places: deforestation and climate change.
"Unchecked deforestation is threatening wildlife, sending more pollution into our air and water, and damaging the Great Barrier Reef, and it's happening because of outdated loopholes in our nature laws.
"The legislation also fails to consider the impact of climate change from new coal and gas projects, despite their emissions having the most damaging impact on the environment."
Mr O'Gorman said this parliament must seize the opportunity and pass strong reforms that will regenerate nature.
"We will see intense lobbying from those who want these reforms to fail. Our politicians need to stand firm and get the job done," he said.
"After two terms of missed opportunities, failure to act now would be a devastating loss for nature and a win for bulldozers and coal trucks."
