The federal government has justified its Nature Positive Plan as a response to the recommendations made in the 2020 review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act by Graeme Samuel (the Samuel Review). However, in three key respects, the Nature Positive Plan proposes a significant and radical departure from the recommendations made in the Samuel Review:
- Under the Nature Positive Plan, the government is establishing a federal environmental protection agency and to confer on this agency power over approvals, contradicting the recommendation in the Samuel Review to retain approvals power with the minister.
- Under the Nature Positive Plan, the government will set a 30×30 target, whereby 30 per cent of Australia’s land and 30 per cent of Australia’s seas are conserved, despite the Samuel Review not recommending such targets be established.
- Under the first tranche of the Nature Positive Plan, the government has already expanded the water trigger to include all forms of unconventional gas, despite the Samuel recommending the water trigger should be narrowed so that its scope only applies to cross-border water resources.
