ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AMENDMENT ACT — REGULATIONS
759. Hon TJORN SIBMA to the minister representing the
Minister for Environment:
I
refer to comments made on page 681 of budget paper No 2, volume 2, regarding
the 17 staff temporarily assigned to support
the development of subsidiary legislation to implement the Environmental
Protection Amendment Act 2020.
(1) Has this work
been completed; and, if not, what tasks remain outstanding, and by when will
those tasks be completed?
(2) To where will these temporary staff move once they
complete this work, if they have not already done so?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by
the Minister for Environment.
(1)–(2) Additional
temporary staff are being recruited to support the implementation of the
amendments to the Environmental Protection Act 1986 and the development of
Environment Online. The amendments to the EP
act are commencing in phases, with part IV, ''Environmental impact
assessment'', and part V, division 2, ''Clearing of native vegetation'', scheduled to start
later in 2021. Environment Online is also being implemented in a staged way, with the first stage scheduled
for early 2022. The additional temporary staff will be employed on
fixed-term contracts for up to three years.