Mining heartland backs environment watchdog with teeth

Most Australians living in the nation's top resource-dependent state want "nature positive" laws and climate impacts to be tallied for big projects, a survey shows.

Polling of more than 1500 Western Australian voters released on Monday found nearly four in five (78 per cent) wanted stronger laws to protect nature.

A similar majority (79 per cent) wanted climate impacts for projects to be assessed before they were approved, according to the Redbridge poll commissioned by independent senator David Pocock.

Some 72 per cent support assessing the logging of native forests under federal environmental protection laws and a majority (55 per cent) were in favour of higher taxes on mining companies for coal, critical minerals and gas projects.

Senator Pocock said the federal government needed to listen to the community and amend its nature positive bill, with eight days left this year for the senate to pass the legislation.

"This research shows Australians - even in our most resource-dependent state - want to see a regulator that is independent, and more ambition from the federal government on climate change and protecting nature," he said.

The resources sector argues the so-called nature positive laws would delay or derail projects that would contribute billions more in tax revenue to government coffers.

Conservation Council of WA executive director Jess Beckerling said the research should be a "wake-up call" for WA's Labor government.

"The WA government's anti-nature lobbying has been a massive betrayal of the significant majority of West Australians who love WA's incredible natural environment and want stronger laws to protect it," she said.

Ms Beckerling described as "alarming" moves by the WA government to undermine the independence of federal environmental protection agency and remove the state government's role in regulating emissions.

Recently walking the halls of federal parliament, WA Premier Roger Cook has welcomed the federal government being open to a compromise with the coalition on the stalled environment laws.

The polling follows a YouGov survey commissioned by WWF-Australia that found 84 per cent of West Australians wanted stronger nature laws, similar to 86 per cent nationally.

The Redbridge polling also found three quarters of WA voters supported the creation of a federal environmental regulator that was independent of government.

Eight out of every 10 voters agreed that government decision-makers had a duty of care to protect future generations from climate change.

Senator Pocock has a bill before the senate to create such a duty of care, which has failed to garner the support of the major parties.