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The Wilderness Society has a strident critique of

National environmental laws do not apply to forests such as Badja in southern NSW. Photo: Andrew Wong

Australia’s federal environmental laws and is calling on the Rudd government to radically overhaul and improve them.

In these times of dangerous climate change and species loss, Australia needs the security of strong environmental laws.

Australia’s current environmental laws fail to protect the environment. They haven’t protected the iconic wetlands of the Coorong or stopped the pulp mill in Tasmania. They will allow sweeping extinctions over the next twenty years. Furthermore, they are in many places weaker than the laws which preceded them - the current laws would not necessarily have saved the Franklin River.

In October 2008, the Federal Government announced a review of the Federal environmental laws, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC). 

The Wilderness Society is calling on the Federal Government to act to strengthen these national laws so that they no longer allow destructive development in some of Australia’s most fragile environments and instead protect threatened species and their habitats.

Read our submission to the government inquiry