Australian governments have perfected the art of watching things die, then approving more things to keep the dead things company. For example, many people assume that Australia’s federal nature law does something to protect the environment. But no. This law is known as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and in practical terms, it’s mostly good at extincting things. The EPBC Act, at present, performs two key functions: it irritates business and destroys nature. …The results have been spectacular. Australia now has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the developed world and more than 2000 species teeter on the edge of extinction, all under the watchful eye of a law specifically designed to prevent exactly that. …In 2021, the Coalition government’s own independent review concluded that the act is not only ineffective, but that it actively harms nature.