Anthony Albanese has confirmed the federal environmental protection agency he has promised to establish if elected would not be “the same model” as the one he promised but failed to legislate during this term of government.

In his first public comments about reviving the nature watchdog plan, Albanese confirmed Labor would pursue a different model in consultation with the states, industry and environmental groups.

“Well, we won’t be legislating the same model,” Albanese said.

“There is industry and environmental groups who both recognise that [federal environment laws] are not-fit-for-purpose.

“What we’ll do is work it through. We’ll consult widely [to] make sure that we get it right.

“That is what we will legislate – something that provides certainty for industry and the way that the processes occur, but also provides for sustainability.”

Labor last week re-committed to resurrecting plans for an EPA if it wins the 3 May election, a pledge made in part to placate MPs uneasy about laws to protect Tasmania’s salmon industry.

WA’s importance to Labor’s electoral hopes was the backdrop to the Albanese government’s failed attempt to deliver a 2022 election promise to create a federal EPA, as part of a wider overhaul of national environmental protection laws.

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The prime minister intervened twice to push legislation to create the watchdog off the agenda amid a major backlash from WA.

While Albanese insisted Labor simply didn’t have the numbers in the Senate because of Coalition and crossbench resistance, the Greens and environmentalists said the government had capitulated to “vested interests”.

Detail about the proposed new model has not yet been made clear. Labor last year promised to legislate a national EPA that could make approval and regulatory decisions and impose beefed-up penalties and Environment Information Australia to provide data, information and analysis.

The commitment on an EPA followed a major review of environment laws, headed by the former competition watchdog head Graeme Samuel last year, which called for the creation of an office with independent oversight of environmental compliance and a “custodian” responsible for providing reliable data.

Some industry groups were prepared to support a federal EPA provided it was limited to compliance and enforcement of nature laws, rather than decision-making on projects.

The prime minister revealed the intention to create a new model on Monday as he lashed Peter Dutton for vowing to swiftly approve Woodside’s North-West Shelf gas extension, accusing him of pre-empting a decision on a project still under federal environmental assessment.

“If you go out there and you pre-empt the law, which says that consideration must be given objectively by the minister, then you by definition put yourself in a position of legal challenge,” Albanese told an election campaign press conference in Perth.

Albanese said a legal challenge to overturn the approval would be a “lay down misère” for any lawyer.

The prime minister on Monday made his first campaign stop in WA, a state that delivered Labor four extra seats and majority government at the 2022 election.

Guardian Australia asked Cook, who was present at Monday’s campaign stop, if the WA government would oppose a federal EPA 2.0 but the press conference moved on before he could answer.