Australia proposes to overhaul 'broken' environment laws

FILE PHOTO: Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek attends the G20 Environment and Climate Ministers' Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, August 31, 2022. Made Nagi/Pool via REUTERS

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia will overhaul its environment laws and set up a new nature protection agency which would have powers to make decisions on the approval of development projects, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said on Thursday.

The move by the centre-left Labor government comes more than two years after an independent review found Australia's environment laws were outdated and required fundamental reform. The report was submitted in 2019 to the former conservative government, which did not make any formal recommendations.