Kirsty Howey is Executive Director of the Environment Centre NT. She has a PhD on development in northern Australia and was previously a native title and environmental lawyer.
To the casual observer, the long overdue reform to our federal environment laws – the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act) – looked like a win for nature and climate.
Speaking to the press after passage of amendments to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act last Thursday, Western Australian Premier, Roger Cook, indicated that he expected federal powers would be devolved to the state within a “matter of months”.
