Sabra Lane: Day two of the economic roundtable meeting in Canberra was switched to debate about the nation's environment laws and specifically the EPBC Act, the Environment Protection Biodiversity Act. It was reviewed in 2020 but reform stalled because there was no agreement on how to do it. The author of that review, Professor Graeme Samuel, says a new minister has brought growing confidence that needless regulation can be cut to speed up housing approvals. Here's political reporter Nicole Hegarty.
Nicole Hegarty: Consensus was the buzzword on day one of the government's Economic Reform Roundtable held in Parliament House.
Jim Chalmers: We need you to be able to find common ground and recognise that sometimes that involves compromises because this is all about building consensus and it's all about building momentum.
Nicole Hegarty: At the end of the first day, Treasurer Jim Chalmers got his wish, an agreement from government, unions and business that workers' skills and qualifications have to be better recognised across state and international borders. And while it remains to be seen when and how that will be achieved, the Business Council's Chief Executive Bran Black says progress was made.
Bran Black: What was really useful was that there was consensus, I think, in some areas that particular points need to be advanced with greater speed.
Nicole Hegarty: Days two and three see the focus turn to regulation and tax, with that early mood of consensus likely to be put to the test. First up on the agenda, the government and industry signalling a willingness to move past a stalemate on changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and strike the right balance between protecting the environment and speeding up house builds. Professor Graeme Samuel reviewed the Act in 2020, finding it wasn't delivering for the environment, business or community. Five years later, he senses a shift, with increased support for implementing some of the recommendations he put forward in the 268-page report.
Graeme Samuel: What we've got now is a minister, in Minister Watt, who recognises the need for reform, in particular the efficiency gains that can flow from it.
Nicole Hegarty: He says legally enforceable national environmental standards and giving states and territories the ability to make assessments and approvals, two key recommendations of his review, would provide certainty and speed up approvals.
Graeme Samuel: When you have expressions such as material impact on the environment or significant impact on the environment, that opens a very, very wide scope for interpretation.
Nicole Hegarty: A list of potential policies drawn up by Treasury and seen by the ABC last week, suggested reforms could clear a backlog of 30,000 housing approvals currently being assessed under the Act. Professor Samuel says providing clarity is key to speeding up the approvals process.
Graeme Samuel: Once you've got clear, I call them granular rules, and you've got a position where people can assess their applications against those granular rules, you then have certainty, you then of course have efficiency.
Nicole Hegarty: Industry figures also support change, saying the current laws hold back investment. One insider telling the ABC ahead of today's roundtable, there's a genuine sense an agreement on reform is possible, albeit five years after the blueprint was written.
Sabra Lane: Nicole Hegarty there.