At a meeting of the yesterday leaders of the  states and territories agreed to a deal with Australian Prime Minister  which would delegate more  decision-making powers to the states and territories about projects that might affect the environment. The "one-stop shops" policy would mean that the states would do more of the assessments for projects with the intention that eventually some states would have the full authority to make the decisions. File photo of Tony Abbott in 2010. Two states, and , have agreed with Abbott a policy of "assessment bilaterals". Abbott described them as follows: "Under those assessment bilaterals the states will do all the assessment work and we hope that in the not-too-distant future we will have approvals bilaterals in place which will mean the states will not only do the assessment but will also do the approvals." All of the states and territories signed memoranda of understanding with the federal government on the issue of environmental regulation. The has condemned the policy.  , environment spokeswoman for the Greens, told reporters: "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 stepped in to [...] governments in , and the are trashing Bob Hawke's legacy and contradicting federal Labor's position".
At a meeting of the yesterday leaders of the Australian states and territories agreed to a deal with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott which would delegate more environmental decision-making powers to the states and territories about projects that might affect the environment. The "one-stop shops" policy would mean that the states would do more of the assessments for projects with the intention that eventually some states would have the full authority to make the decisions. File photo of Tony Abbott in 2010. Two states, Queensland and New South Wales , have agreed with Abbott a policy of "assessment bilaterals". Abbott described them as follows: "Under those assessment bilaterals the states will do all the assessment work and we hope that in the not-too-distant future we will have approvals bilaterals in place which will mean the states will not only do the assessment but will also do the approvals." All of the states and territories signed memoranda of understanding with the federal government on the issue of environmental regulation. The has condemned the policy. Senator , environment spokeswoman for the Greens, told reporters: "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 stepped in to [...] governments in South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT are trashing Bob Hawke's legacy and contradicting federal Labor's position".
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Australian
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Tony Abbott
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environmental
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Queensland and New South Wales
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Senator
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South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT