PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australian Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) on Wednesday welcomed the state government’s introduction of Biodiversity Conservation Bill 2015 into Parliament to enable review of its content.

Premier Colin Barnett said introducing the Bill was a momentous step forward in the conservation of the state's biodiversity, and would replace Australia’s oldest conservation legislation with a modern, updated legislative framework.

“This long-awaited new legislation will replace the outdated Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 and significantly improve the government's ability to protect native species and important biodiversity assets,” Barnett said.

“Successive governments have been trying to update these laws for many years so this is a very significant achievement with new biodiversity conservation laws being introduced for the first time since the 1950s.

“Western Australia's south-west is one of 35 globally recognised biodiversity hotspots with flora and fauna found nowhere else.  This legislation ensures these values are appropriately recognised.”

Environment Minister Albert Jacob said the new Act would give protection to whole ecosystems for the first time.

“In another first for Western Australian legal history, the Bill will allow for the listing of threatened and critical habitat.  The Bill also gives special protection to whales, dugongs and dolphins,” Jacob said.

Changes include the increase of maximum penalties for killing or smuggling critically endangered species from A$10 000 to A$500 000, and from A$4 000 to A$50 000 for non-threatened species, which Western Australia hoped would provide a real deterrent to those considering serious wildlife crimes.

The Bill would also replace the inadequate Sandalwood Act 1929.  The A$200 maximum penalty for illegally harvesting wild sandalwood would rise to A$200 000 for individuals and A$1-million for corporations, as well as improving trading and processing accountability.

The Minister said the Bill provided streamlined development approvals by recognising other state approval mechanisms, and provided a pathway to exemptions from approvals under Commonwealth legislation.

“By removing unnecessary regulatory duplication in areas around potential development impacts on threatened species, projects will be able to commence more quickly and with greater certainty than is currently the case.”

CME CEO Reg Howard Smith said the industry would review the legislation in detail before Parliamentary debate next year to ensure it delivered on minimising duplication and red tape in project development approvals, while protecting the state’s biodiversity conservation.

“CME is encouraged with the move towards a single threatened species list, which should reduce unnecessary duplication in species assessments. While the new legislation significantly strengthens penalties for harming native species, it will be important it also provides the opportunity for more streamlined biodiversity conservation approvals.”

Howard-Smith added that the industry was supportive of the state government’s commitment to progressing the ‘one-stop-shop’ environmental approvals approach, which aimed to refer federal approval assessments and decision-making to states and territories under bilateral agreements, and would be reviewing the new legislation in this context.