A WA Liberal MP has criticised his Government's proposed legal changes to property rights, claiming they will only further expand the "theft" of private land.

Former minister Murray Cowper has long been calling on his Government to better protect the property rights of private landowners.

He said many pieces of legislation and work by Government agencies to deliver essential services such as water, power and roads, were increasingly resulting in property being taken from landowners or diminished in value.

Yesterday, on the last sitting day of State Parliament for the year, Premier Colin Barnett introduced new legislation which he said would improve and clarify property rights and ensure landowners are properly compensated when public works are carried out on their property by the Government.

But Mr Cowper believes the proposed changes would actually have the opposite effect and said he will cross the floor on the Bill.

"What the Premier's attempting to do here is resolve the issue of property rights," he said.

"What he's done is actually the opposite, he's now legitimising and indoctrinating the rights of Government departments to steal land.

"The issue here with the Premier is that he doesn't understand the legislation himself, he doesn't understand the concerns of people in regional WA."

Mr Cowper said there had been no consultation with affected landowners.

Hundreds of laws impede property rights: Murray Cowper

He also raised concerns that the proposed changes would only amend a few pieces of legislation, when there were actually hundreds of laws which impeded the property rights of landowners.

"It does nothing about planning (laws), nothing about the environment (laws) and....it does not achieve what was promised," he said.

"They're saying this is the first step - well it's taken 10 years to get to the first step, how long is it going to take for this to be resolved?

"It could be 10 or 20 years time."

Farming groups have been calling for changes to environment laws since the case of Peter Swift who was charged but later cleared of illegally clearing land.

There are demands that he be compensated after environmental laws prevented two thirds of his property from being farmed without a permit.

WA Pastoralist and Graziers' Association spokesman Sheldon Mumby was supportive of Mr Cowper's view that the legislation did not go far enough to protect property rights.

"It doesn't address the major issues and that's the current environmental legislation that renders large sections of property unviable and absolutely worthless to the landowners and especially the farmers," he said.

"We are just seeing a first step albeit a baby step....and we will still be continuing to push for proper legislation that will provide fair and just compensation for affected landowners."

Both Mr Cowper and Mr Mumby questioned the timing of introducing the legislation on the last sitting day.

But the Nationals have indicated they will support the legislation and described it as a good first step.

Mr Barnett said the Land Acquisition Legislation Amendment (Compensation) Bill 2014 delivered on commitments made by the Government during the 2013 election campaign.

"This legislation will ensure the property rights of landholders – including pastoral leaseholders – are taken into account when Government decisions are made, and that those decisions are fair and transparent," he said.

He said the legislation would also encourage utilities to use land already owned by Government, rather than acquiring interest in privately held or leased Crown land.

Mr Barnett said the Government was progressing other measures to improve the property rights of landowners, including amendments to the Environmental Protection Act to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens.

Attorney-General Michael Mischin said the proposed changes would deliver a fairer and more transparent approach for the assessment and determination of compensation for landholders.