Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will on Wednesday announce more than $45 million over the next four years to progress environmental bilateral agreements with states and territories to remove approval duplication.
The funding will be provided to encourage governments across the country to prioritise signing on to new assessment and approval agreements with the Commonwealth.
State and territory leaders who sign a new deal with the federal government will be allowed to assess proposals and green-light them on behalf of the Commonwealth.
In a speech to the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA in Perth on Wednesday, Mr Albanese will point to median approval times for projects under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act blowing out from 48 weeks 20 years ago to 118 weeks now.
The drawn-out process resulted in investors walking away from projects and communities missing out, the prime minister will say.
"This will fast-track new energy, housing and resources projects by combining federal and state approvals, effectively removing an entire layer of bureaucracy from the process," he will say.
"So instead of a two-stage, two-track process, with that all the cost of delays and doubling up, this will be a one-step process, with one, clearer, faster, yes or no.
"After too many wasted years, this can be a circuit-breaker - if the states step up and sign up."
Labor's environmental protection reform was passed by parliament in November 2025.
The changes seek to increase efficiency in project assessments and provide greater transparency in decision making.
The prime minister will also say as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, building national resilience will be a key focus of the May budget, to be handed down in two weeks' time.
"It will be our government's most important budget to date - and our most ambitious," he will say.
"The challenges confronting our nation right now demand that ambition - and so too do the opportunities ahead of us."
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