I write with a heavy heart. When a Labor government seeks to overhaul our weak national environment law in a way that will still allow new coal and gas projects to be waved through, it is more than a policy failure – it’s a failure of the duty of care owed to every Australian, to the places and species we love, and to our children’s futures.

Since taking office in 2022, the Albanese government has been approving fossil fuel projects at almost the same pace and zeal as its federal Coalition predecessors. Thirty-two coal, oil and gas developments have been given the green light – six of them since the 2025 election, including the most recent approval just weeks ago for Chevron to extract gas from seven West Australian fields. Together, these projects generate roughly 10 to 13 million tonnes of climate pollution each year, and that’s likely a conservative figure, given some projects have withheld their emissions data.

Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt has approved the North West Shelf gas project.Credit: Digital artwork: Marija Ercegovac

Meanwhile, climate disasters are tearing through the very environment that this law is meant to protect. The Great Barrier Reef has suffered through six mass coral bleaching events in a decade. An estimated 63 billion animals and insects were killed or displaced in the Black Summer bushfires. Climate pollution is the biggest threat to our precious reefs, species, forests and coasts.

Both in Australia and beyond our shores, fossil-fuelled heating........

© The Sydney Morning Herald