Destruction of threatened species habitat taking place on 'scandalously huge scale'

Environment groups tell Senate inquiry there's 'massive and pervasive non-compliance with legislation'

Australia's environment laws have been "white-anted with loopholes" and non-compliance takes place on a "scandalously huge scale", a Senate inquiry into threatened species has heard.

The inquiry into the rate of faunal extinctions was established after a Guardian Australia investigation found that Australia's 1,800 threatened plants, animals and ecological communities were poorly monitored and conservation efforts inadequately funded.