New South Wales and Queensland - which had already agreed to the plan the government says will reduce "green tape" - have signed what the Prime Minister termed "assessment bilaterals". Prime Minister Tony Abbott with NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell during the COAG press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Credit:Andrew Meares These agreements will allow states to carry out the environmental assessments for major projects and pave the way for states to also carry out the approvals. Mr Abbott argues that the "same high standards of environmental approval" will apply but with a "much swifter outcome". While Labor supports the streamlining of environmental approvals - to get rid of state-federal double-ups - it does not agree with giving the states final approval powers over environmental sites of national significance.

"We do not support handing over the protection of the Great Barrier Reef to Campbell Newman," Labor's environment spokesman Mark Butler said earlier this week. Queensland Premier Campbell Newman and Prime Minister Tony Abbott return to Parliament House after an early morning run around Lake Burley Griffin. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The Greens are vehemently against the move, and even before Friday's COAG press conference had ended issued a statement condemning the agreements as "dodgy deals". "These deals pave the way for Tony Abbott to abolish a 30-year-old federal safeguard for our most precious natural places and wildlife, established when Bob Hawke stepped in to save the Franklin from being dammed," environment spokeswoman Larissa Waters said. "Labor governments in South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT are trashing Bob Hawke's legacy and contradicting federal Labor's position ... Tony Abbott wants to put states and territories in charge of approving environmentally destructive projects that impact our World Heritage Areas and nationally endangered species."

Indigenous issues The agreements on environmental approvals come after a wide-ranging COAG meeting on Friday. Mr Abbott said the group had a "very constructive" consversation on indigenous issues. "We are absolutely agreed that it is essential that every Australian child goes to school," he said. The council also discussed Holden's decision to stop manufacturing in Australia and agreed that swift action needed to be taken. Mr Abbott said the federal government would make an announcement on the matter next week.

In the wake of the High Court decision to strike out the ACT's same-sex marriage laws on Thursday, the issue was not "formally discussed" during the meeting, the Prime Minister said. The leaders discussed Mr Abbott's plans for a paid parental leave scheme, with the scheme due to kick in after July 2015. "We are talking abut the best way to ensure that is the case with an equitable sharing of the costs," Mr Abbott said. Victorian Premier Denis Napthine said premiers and chief ministers recognised Mr Abbott had a mandate for his "innovative" scheme. "Chief ministers and premiers discussed the need to have an ongoing working relationship between states and territories and the Commonwealth about how to administer in the most efficient and effective way this paid parental scheme and these discussions will be ongoing," he said.

Disability insurance The meeting also touched on the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Mr Abbott said that all jurisdictions supported it, but noted that the launch sites were now being referred to as "trial" sites, in a move that suggests the make-up of the scheme could change. He said support to people with disabilities had to be provided on a "sustainable" basis. School funding, which has dominated the political landscape in recent weeks, will be the subject of the next COAG meeting early in the new year. Mr Abbott said there had been only a "limited" discussion of schools funding on Friday.

With AAP