National

Stronger forest protections on table in nature talks

Nov 23, 2025

Sun rays shine through treetops — Labor wants to pass its environmental and conservation reforms before parliament rises for the year. -AAP Image

Native forest logging would be subject to tougher restrictions under a proposal put forward by Labor to try and win support for long-stalled environment reforms.

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The federal government hopes to pass an overhaul of the nation's environment laws in the coming days, aiming to speed up approvals of crucial infrastructure, energy and housing projects while also better protecting natural sites.

As he tries to strike a deal to get the legislation through the senate with help from either the coalition or the Greens, Environment Minister Murray Watt said he was open to including native forestry in the changes.

While some states have banned the logging of native forests, in others the practice is still allowed and exempt from regulation under federal environment laws.

Senator Watt said the government was preparing amendments to its bill which would close the loophole.

Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said it was good Labor was negotiating but more detail was needed.

"We haven't seen any detailed amendments from the government or any anything that kind of spells out exactly how this would work," she told the ABC's Insiders program.

Senator Hanson-Young also questioned Labor's suggestion of a three-year transition period for the new forestry rules, saying urgent protection was needed for native forests.

The provision is the latest sweetener offered by Senator Watt to win over the minor party.

He has also offered to scrap a contentious measure which would've allowed coal and gas projects to be approved if they were in the national interest.

Labor has said it is also open to doing a deal with the coalition to get the laws through, and Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has indicated she's open to passing the reforms if a number of pro-business changes are made.

The coalition wants to axe reporting of a project's carbon emissions, reduce fines and keep decision-making powers within the government's environment department.

But that has raised concerns a future minister could use their powers to tick and flick environmentally damaging projects - a possibility the Greens have leveraged in their attack on the proposals.

Labor's laws would allow the agency to halt projects if it believed environmental destruction was imminent, but the coalition warned this provision was too broad.