Australia passed a landmark bill to overhaul the nation’s environmental laws after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government struck a deal with the left-wing minority Greens party.

Both houses of the country’s parliament passed the legislation, Environment Minister Murray Watt said in Canberra. It amends the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, a framework widely viewed by industry and environmental advocates as outdated and in need of reform. Past efforts to update the laws, the most recent earlier this year, had foundered.

The new laws strengthen protections for the environment while also streamlining approval processes for major developments in areas like mining.

“As a result of these laws being passed, Australia’s natural environment will be better prote

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