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Labor accused of broken promise after delaying laws to address Australia’s extinction crisis

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Tuesday, April 16, 2024

The Albanese government has further delayed a commitment to rewrite Australia’s failing national environment laws.The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said the government would introduce legislation in coming weeks to create two previously announced bodies – an environment protection agency and a second organisation called Environment Information Australia, which will provide public data on ecosystems, plants and animals.But a commitment to introduce a suite of laws to address Australia’s extinction crisis, including new national environmental standards against which development proposals would be assessed, has been pushed back to an unspecified date.At a media conference on Tuesday, Plibersek said the announcement of legislation for a national EPA – to be known as Environment Protection Australia – was “an historic day for the environment”.But she did not guarantee that the broader package of environment laws, including the national standards, would be introduced before the next election. “They’ll be introduced when they’re ready,” she said.The delay to wider reforms sparked accusations that the government was failing to deliver the overarching environment reform it announced in 2022. The Greens’ environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, accused Labor of breaking a promise.James Trezise, director of the not-for-profit group the Biodiversity Council, said the delay was a “significant step back from what the Albanese Government committed to in its nature positive plan”.“Nature in Australia is in crisis and can’t afford delays in the comprehensive reforms needed to fix our weak and broken environmental laws,” he said.Plibersek had initially promised to introduce new laws – first in draft form for consultation, and then to the parliament – by last year.Speaking in 2022, she said multiple reviews had shown the existing laws – the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act – were “broken” and promised changes that would be better for business and the environment. She promised legislative changes in 2023 to introduce national environmental standards, speed up decision-making and improve trust and integrity in the system.On Tuesday, she said splitting up the changes would allow more time for consultation and to “make sure we get this right”.“When I first announced the nature positive plan, I said it would take a bit of cooperation, compromise and common sense to deliver. That’s exactly how we’re approaching the rollout,” she said.skip past newsletter promotionOur Australian morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionPlibersek said the EPA legislation would create an agency with “strong new powers to better protect nature”, including being able to issue environment protection orders – effectively “stop-work” orders. She said the laws would allow the EPA to act as a delegate for the minister and make decisions on whether development proposals went ahead.The agency would initially be focused on cracking down on illegal land-clearing and enforcing environmental offsetting conditions. A government audit found about one in seven developments approved under the existing laws could be in breach of offset conditions that required some form of compensation in return for being allowed to damage nature.Plibersek said the EPA chief would be an independent statutory appointment similar to the Australian federal police commissioner “to make sure no government can interfere with the new agency’s important enforcement work”. The agency would initially sit within the environment department before becoming an independent statutory authority in July 2025.Plibersek said the second new body, Environment Information Australia, would release a national state of the environment report every two years. Its primary role would be to provide “up to the minute” information on Australia’s environment to assist the public and business.The Coalition’s environment spokesman, Jonno Duniam, said the announcement showed Plibersek had failed as environment minister, describing it as the creation of a “new bureaucracy with no new laws to administer”.Hanson-Young said the changes did not go far enough to protect nature, and accused the government of giving in to a two-year-long campaign by “the mining industry and big developers”. She said the government was engaged in “piecemeal tinkering”, when it had promised a full environment law reform package.“Labor promised to fix Australia’s broken environment laws, but without stopping native forest logging and fossil fuel expansions, the government will be failing to protect our planet and failing to keep its promise to the Australian people,” she said.Conservation groups called on the government to deliver the promised full package of reform before the election, and expressed disappointment over the delays.The Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive, Kelly O’Shanassy, said the promised crackdown on illegal land clearing and the establishment of an EPA were “welcome and necessary”, but without comprehensive reform the agency would be “enforcing a flawed and ineffective law that still needs serious surgery”.Environment groups are expected to air their concerns with the changes at a Senate inquiry hearing into the extinction crisis on Wednesday.

Tanya Plibersek says two new agencies will be established but a commitment to rewrite national environment laws has been pushed backGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe Albanese government has further delayed a commitment to rewrite Australia’s failing national environment laws.The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said the government would introduce legislation in coming weeks to create two previously announced bodies – an environment protection agency and a second organisation called Environment Information Australia, which will provide public data on ecosystems, plants and animals.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

The Albanese government has further delayed a commitment to rewrite Australia’s failing national environment laws.

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said the government would introduce legislation in coming weeks to create two previously announced bodies – an environment protection agency and a second organisation called Environment Information Australia, which will provide public data on ecosystems, plants and animals.

But a commitment to introduce a suite of laws to address Australia’s extinction crisis, including new national environmental standards against which development proposals would be assessed, has been pushed back to an unspecified date.

At a media conference on Tuesday, Plibersek said the announcement of legislation for a national EPA – to be known as Environment Protection Australia – was “an historic day for the environment”.

But she did not guarantee that the broader package of environment laws, including the national standards, would be introduced before the next election. “They’ll be introduced when they’re ready,” she said.

The delay to wider reforms sparked accusations that the government was failing to deliver the overarching environment reform it announced in 2022. The Greens’ environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, accused Labor of breaking a promise.

James Trezise, director of the not-for-profit group the Biodiversity Council, said the delay was a “significant step back from what the Albanese Government committed to in its nature positive plan”.

“Nature in Australia is in crisis and can’t afford delays in the comprehensive reforms needed to fix our weak and broken environmental laws,” he said.

Plibersek had initially promised to introduce new laws – first in draft form for consultation, and then to the parliament – by last year.

Speaking in 2022, she said multiple reviews had shown the existing laws – the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act – were “broken” and promised changes that would be better for business and the environment. She promised legislative changes in 2023 to introduce national environmental standards, speed up decision-making and improve trust and integrity in the system.

On Tuesday, she said splitting up the changes would allow more time for consultation and to “make sure we get this right”.

“When I first announced the nature positive plan, I said it would take a bit of cooperation, compromise and common sense to deliver. That’s exactly how we’re approaching the rollout,” she said.

skip past newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

Plibersek said the EPA legislation would create an agency with “strong new powers to better protect nature”, including being able to issue environment protection orders – effectively “stop-work” orders. She said the laws would allow the EPA to act as a delegate for the minister and make decisions on whether development proposals went ahead.

The agency would initially be focused on cracking down on illegal land-clearing and enforcing environmental offsetting conditions. A government audit found about one in seven developments approved under the existing laws could be in breach of offset conditions that required some form of compensation in return for being allowed to damage nature.

Plibersek said the EPA chief would be an independent statutory appointment similar to the Australian federal police commissioner “to make sure no government can interfere with the new agency’s important enforcement work”. The agency would initially sit within the environment department before becoming an independent statutory authority in July 2025.

Plibersek said the second new body, Environment Information Australia, would release a national state of the environment report every two years. Its primary role would be to provide “up to the minute” information on Australia’s environment to assist the public and business.

The Coalition’s environment spokesman, Jonno Duniam, said the announcement showed Plibersek had failed as environment minister, describing it as the creation of a “new bureaucracy with no new laws to administer”.

Hanson-Young said the changes did not go far enough to protect nature, and accused the government of giving in to a two-year-long campaign by “the mining industry and big developers”. She said the government was engaged in “piecemeal tinkering”, when it had promised a full environment law reform package.

“Labor promised to fix Australia’s broken environment laws, but without stopping native forest logging and fossil fuel expansions, the government will be failing to protect our planet and failing to keep its promise to the Australian people,” she said.

Conservation groups called on the government to deliver the promised full package of reform before the election, and expressed disappointment over the delays.

The Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive, Kelly O’Shanassy, said the promised crackdown on illegal land clearing and the establishment of an EPA were “welcome and necessary”, but without comprehensive reform the agency would be “enforcing a flawed and ineffective law that still needs serious surgery”.

Environment groups are expected to air their concerns with the changes at a Senate inquiry hearing into the extinction crisis on Wednesday.

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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Microplastics found in human ovary follicular fluid for the first time

Peer-reviewed study’s findings raises fresh question on the toxic substances’ impact on fertilityMicroplastics have been found for the first time in human ovary follicular fluid, raising a new round of questions about the ubiquitous and toxic substances’ potential impact on women’s fertility.The new peer-reviewed research published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety checked for microplastics in the follicular fluid of 18 women undergoing assisted reproductive treatment at a fertility clinic in Salerno, Italy, and detected them in 14. Continue reading...

Microplastics have been found for the first time in human ovary follicular fluid, raising a new round of questions about the ubiquitous and toxic substances’ potential impact on women’s fertility.The new peer-reviewed research published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety checked for microplastics in the follicular fluid of 18 women undergoing assisted reproductive treatment at a fertility clinic in Salerno, Italy, and detected them in 14.Follicular fluid provides essential nutrients and biochemical signals for developing eggs. Contaminating that process with bits of plastic quite likely has implications for fertility, hormonal balance and overall reproductive health, the authors wrote.The findings represent a major step toward figuring out how and why microplastics impact women’s reproductive health, but are also “very alarming”, Luigi Montano, a researcher at the University of Rome and study lead author, said.“This discovery should serve as an important warning signal about the invasiveness of these emerging contaminants in the female reproductive system,” the study states.From the top of Mt Everest to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, microplastics and smaller nanoplastics have been detected throughout the environment. Food is thought to be a main exposure route: recent studies found them in all meat and produce products tested.Microplastics are particularly dangerous because they can contain any number of 16,000 plastic chemicals. That includes highly toxic compounds like PFAS, bisphenol and phthalates that are linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, hormone disruption or developmental toxicity.Microplastics have been found throughout the human body and can cross the brain and placental barriers.Montano’s latest paper is part of a larger project he’s leading for which he has also detected microplastics in human urine and semen, and examines the impacts on fertility. He said he suspects microplastics are among chemicals driving plummeting sperm counts and a drop in overall sperm quality.“We have proven this decline, especially in areas where pollution is bad,” Montano said.Though men are more susceptible to the substance’s toxic effects, he added, women are also possibly impacted. Animal research has linked the presence of microplastics to ovarian dysfunction and health problems, like reduced oocyte maturation, and a lower capacity for fertilization. Another study on mice showed alterations to ovarian tissue.The paper notes a “possible presence of correlation between the concentration of microplastics” and reproductive health in the women who participated in the new study.Montano added that the bisphenol, phthalates, PFAS and other highly toxic chemicals that use microplastics as a “trojan horse” to get into the body, and into the ovaries, are “very dangerous”. The chemicals are already well-known for disrupting hormones and harming women’s reproductive health.The follicular fluid paper offers a “very important finding”, said Xiaozhong Yu, a University of New Mexico microplastics researcher, but he added that more work is needed to determine the dose and level of exposure at which adverse effects start to happen.“This is the work in the next phase – we need to quantify,” Yu said. His team is also attempting to answer some of those questions with broader epidemiological research.Montano’s team is doing similar work, and he’s spearheading research that is trying to determine how much reducing the use of plastic in the kitchen and eating an organic diet, will reduce the level of microplastics in the body.The substances’ ubiquity makes it difficult to avoid, but reducing the amount of plastic used in the kitchen – from packaging to storage to utensils – can likely reduce exposures. Pesticides can contain microplastics, or in some cases are a form of microplastics, so eating organic may help.Experts also advise that people avoid heating plastic, or putting hot food and liquid in plastic.Single-use paper coffee cups, for example, can shed trillions of bits of plastic when hot liquid is added. Similarly, tea bags can release billions of particles, and microwavable plastic is also a problem. Plastic utensils that briefly come into contact with hot pans can also leach chemicals, and wood and stainless steel alternatives are better.

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Endangered sea turtle populations racing to recovery

A new global survey finds that endangered sea turtles show signs of recovery in a majority of places they are found worldwide.

Endangered sea turtles show signs of recovery in a majority of places where they’re found worldwide, according to a new global survey released Thursday.“Many of the turtle populations have come back, though some haven’t,” said Duke ecologist Stuart Pimm, who was not involved with the research. “Overall, the sea turtle story is one of the real conservation success stories.”A hawksbill turtle underwater in Indonesia.APThe study looked at 48 populations of sea turtles around the world. Scientists measured the impacts of threats such as hunting, pollution, coastal development and climate change to the marine animals. In more than half of the areas studied, threats are declining overall, the study found.But there are some exceptions. Sea turtle populations in the Atlantic Ocean are more likely to be recovering than those in Pacific waters. And leatherback turtles are not faring as well as other species.Leatherback sea turtle on a beach in Trinidad.APGlobally, leatherbacks are considered vulnerable to extinction, but many groups are critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.All seven of the regions where leatherbacks are found face high environmental risks, said study co-author Bryan Wallace, a wildlife ecologist at Ecolibrium in Colorado.Leatherback turtles are famous for making the longest known marine migrations of any animal — with some individuals swimming as many as 3,700 miles (5,955 kilometers) each way. That feat moves them through a wide swath of regions and may expose them to unique risks, he said.A leatherback turtle in Trinidad.APMeanwhile, green turtles are still considered endangered globally, but their populations show signs of recovery in many regions of the world, researchers found.“By ending commercial harvests and allowing them time to rebound, their populations are now doing really well” in coastal waters off many regions of Mexico and the U.S., said co-author Michelle María Early Capistrán, a Stanford University researcher who has conducted fieldwork in both countries.A loggerhead turtle underwater in Belize.APSea turtles were protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973, and Mexico banned all captures of sea turtles in 1990. But it took a few decades for the results of these actions — alongside efforts to protect nesting beaches and reduce accidental bycatch in fishing — to show up in population trends, she said.Around the world, the problem of sea turtles dying after accidentally becoming entangled in fishing gear remains a major threat, said Wallace. New technologies are being developed to spare turtles, but they must be accepted and used regularly by diverse fishing communities to be effective, he added.A young olive Ridley turtle in Costa Rica in 2018.APThe survey was published in the journal Endangered Species Research and is the first update in more than a decade.-- Christina Larson / Associated Press

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Endangered Sea Turtle Populations Show Signs of Recovery in More Than Half the World, Survey Finds

A new global survey finds that endangered sea turtles show signs of recovery in a majority of places where they’re found worldwide

WASHINGTON (AP) — Endangered sea turtles show signs of recovery in a majority of places where they’re found worldwide, according to a new global survey released Thursday. “Many of the turtle populations have come back, though some haven’t,” said Duke ecologist Stuart Pimm, who was not involved with the research. “Overall, the sea turtle story is one of the real conservation success stories." The study looked at 48 populations of sea turtles around the world. Scientists measured the impacts of threats such as hunting, pollution, coastal development and climate change to the marine animals. In more than half of the areas studied, threats are declining overall, the study found.But there are some exceptions. Sea turtle populations in the Atlantic Ocean are more likely to be recovering than those in Pacific waters. And leatherback turtles are not faring as well as other species. Globally, leatherbacks are considered vulnerable to extinction, but many groups are critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. All seven of the regions where leatherbacks are found face high environmental risks, said study co-author Bryan Wallace, a wildlife ecologist at Ecolibrium in Colorado. Leatherback turtles are famous for making the longest known marine migrations of any animal – with some individuals swimming as many as 3,700 miles (5,955 kilometers) each way. That feat moves them through a wide swath of regions and may expose them to unique risks, he said.Meanwhile, green turtles are still considered endangered globally, but their populations show signs of recovery in many regions of the world, researchers found.“By ending commercial harvests and allowing them time to rebound, their populations are now doing really well” in coastal waters off many regions of Mexico and the U.S., said co-author Michelle María Early Capistrán, a Stanford University researcher who has conducted fieldwork in both countries.Sea turtles were protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973, and Mexico banned all captures of sea turtles in 1990. But it took a few decades for the results of these actions – alongside efforts to protect nesting beaches and reduce accidental bycatch in fishing – to show up in population trends, she said.Around the world, the problem of sea turtles dying after accidentally becoming entangled in fishing gear remains a major threat, said Wallace. New technologies are being developed to spare turtles, but they must be accepted and used regularly by diverse fishing communities to be effective, he added.The survey was published in the journal Endangered Species Research and is the first update in more than a decade. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Feb. 2025

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Watch These Elephants Form an 'Alert Circle' as an Earthquake Shakes San Diego, Protecting Their Young at the Center

Footage from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park shows the large mammals huddling together around the herd's calves

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A Russian Bucket Brigade Helps Toads and Frogs Cross the Road to Get to a Spawning Site

It happens every spring along a section of road north of Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg: Volunteers, some in yellow vests, patrol near the Sestroretsk Bog natural reserve, and become crossing guards for thousands of toads and frogs

A NATURE RESERVE NEAR SESTRORETSK, Russia (AP) — It happens every spring along a section of road north of Russia's second-largest city of St. Petersburg: Volunteers, many in yellow vests, patrol near the Sestroretsk Bog nature reserve.They serve as crossing guards for thousands of toads and frogs, who are trying to navigate toward their spawning sites.There usually isn’t much traffic, but even the relatively low number of vehicles still would kill up to 1,000 toads each year, said Konstantin Milta, senior herpetology researcher with the St. Petersburg Zoological Institute.“On large highways, the death rate is monstrous. Sometimes the surface of the road can be covered with a layer of dead animals,” Milta told The Associated Press.On this section, a large reddish-orange sign that features one of the amphibians warns motorists: “Attention! Slow down! Toads are crossing the road.”When the volunteers find one of the creatures, they pick it up, put it in a plastic bucket and make a record before depositing it in the grass on the other side.“So cute!” one of the volunteers said, referring to how the toad clung to her pink glove.In the Sestroretsk Bog reserve, “toads migrate from the forest to the bay in the spring, reproduce in the reed beds in the coastal strip, lay eggs, and then, somewhere in mid-May, they leave the water and migrate back to the forest,” Milta said. “So they cross this road twice,” he added.Members of this bucket brigade have been volunteering their time since 2016, said Viktoria Samuta, head of the environmental education section of the Directorate of Protected Areas of St. Petersburg.Depending on the weather, the work begins in mid-April and continues for a month or longer, she said, with more than 700 volunteers take part every year.Last year, Samuta said, volunteers helped move thousands of specimens.“It is very good that in recent years there have been more and more people ready to help living beings,” she said. “Our mission is, precisely, to make people love our nature more and more, and be willing to help it.”Volunteer Diana Kulinichenko called it a nice break from her studies.“I’ve been whining all semester that I want to go to the forest," Kulinichenko said. "And here’s the forest, the toads, you help the toads, you’re in the forest, you breathe clean air. And I just really want to volunteer, so after this I’ll be looking for where else I can do it.”Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Feb. 2025

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