TAKE ACTION
Email the Environment Minister: Australian’s have high standards
Will you email Murray Watt to say that Australians have high standards – and we expect environmental laws that live up to them?
Minister Watt now says national environmental standards won’t be released in the draft new laws expected this year.
That’s a problem.
These standards aren’t just paperwork. They’re the backbone of the reform – the part that makes sure decisions about nature are fair, consistent and based on evidence, not politics.
Tips for writing your email
Make it personal : We’ve drafted some text to get you started, but your email will be most powerful if you add your own voice.
A good place to add your own personal touch would be in paragraph one: “Australians like me have high standards, and we expect environmental laws that live up to them...”
Keep it clear and respectful: Politicians are more likely to listen if your message is strong, concise and courteous.
Focus on the asks:
- Create strong, legally binding National Environmental Standards that all decisions must follow – including standards for matters of national environmental significance (like threatened species and Ramsar wetlands), First Nations engagement and community participation.
- Reflect the minimum expectations set by Standards throughout our national laws by also:
- Clearly defining unacceptable impacts and ensuring that the most damaging projects are ruled out from the start.
- Embedding the mitigation hierarchy in legislation – avoid damage first, don’t just offset it later, legislate limits on when offsets can be used and don’t allow companies to pay to destroy.
- Mandating comprehensive conservation planning and critical habitat protections.
- Being backed by a non-regression principle, so standards can only improve over time – not go backwards.
