Leader has been under pressure to make an election commitment to an overhaul flagged at Labor conference

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Labor will promise to overhaul environmental protection law and establish a National Environment Protection Authority, as Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison resume campaigning after the second leaders’ debate in Brisbane on Friday night.

Green groups and the internal Labor environmental action group Lean have been pressing Labor to make a specific election commitment on the regulatory overhaul, which was first flagged by Shorten at last year’s national conference.

After some pre-event controversy, Shorten committed last December to introduce a new Australian environment act and create a commonwealth environmental protection agency if Labor wins the election.

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There was concern Labor could pull back from those undertakings under pressure from business concerned about more stringent environmental hurdles, but on Saturday Shorten will make a $50m commitment to the new regulatory framework, a $100m commitment for a new native species protection fund and also allocate $62m to tackle coastal erosion and prepare the coastline for the impact of climate change.

This week Shorten has gone on the offensive over climate change, declaring Australian politics is “broken” because the parliament has been unable to rise to the challenge of delivering credible policy.

On Friday the Coalition promised $203m to increase recycling, reduce waste and protect threatened species and waterways.

Public debate about the adequacy of the environmental protection framework was sparked after a rushed environmental approval for the controversial Adani coal project, which the Morrison government ticked off just before calling the election.

Labor initially seemed to be making the case that it would review the groundwater approval, but Shorten has pulled back, saying there are “no plans” to go down that path.

Environment groups pointed to the groundwater approval as evidence that the regulatory framework needs an overhaul.

The national convener of Lean, Felicity Wade, told Guardian Australia she was satisfied with the election commitments.

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“Australians want a prosperous future but also a safe one, and we want the beauty and ease of our unique natural environment to be looked after by government.

“The Coalition has handed it all to big business to do as they please but Labor will ensure private interests can’t destroy our shared natural legacy. Better laws and better oversight will deliver this,” she said.

Shorten delivered the commitments at national conference in response to a concerted lobbying effort by Lean. The policy shift was endorsed by 498 local party branches before the national conference, and since the conference 77 branches have passed a motion calling on the party to deliver “a full election policy announcement to underpin this major reform as a high priority for the first term of a Labor federal government”.