Morrison governmentâs environment watchdog a âtoothless tigerâ Weâre sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss Save Normal text size Advertisement Experts warn the Morrison governmentâs proposed environmental approvals watchdog lacks the necessary powers to fix ongoing failures in the major project approval system. Environment Minister Sussan Ley lodged a bill with Parliament on Thursday to hand the Commonwealthâs powers under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to state governments, to make the assessment system for developers more efficient. Environment Minister Sussan Ley. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen. Ms Leyâs bill also proposed a set of national standards to regulate the statesâ performance, which would be overseen by a new assurance commissioner to ensure âthe highest national environmental standards are met, regardless of who approves a projectâ.