Controversial bill allowing government to seize control of private land faces backlash
A bill claiming to ease housing crisis pressures has been met with backlash for the lack of legal “checks and balances”, which would allow the government to seize private land.
SA News
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An “underdeveloped” bill that allows the government to assume control of privately owned land without consent or compensation has sparked outrage among developers – but the Greens say it’s a necessary incentive during a housing crisis.
The Use of Vacant Land Bill was successfully passed by the upper house on Wednesday.
This legislation will allow the state government or local council to confiscate privately owned land – without needing consent or providing compensation – if they believe the site has been vacant for too long or not sufficiently developed.
Taken over land would be used for a “public purpose” like building housing or open spaces.
Urban Development Institute of Australia (SA) CEO Liam Golding said the bill is “an affront” to the state’s legal system.
“Fundamentally, the idea that the state can take private property rights without compensation or consent is an affront to everything that we have as our legal system,” Mr Golding said. “The bill is just poorly drafted … there are no checks and balances.
“It’s utterly subjective and from a legal perspective there’s nothing stopping the government from saying that a week is long enough for development to have progressed.
“There’s also no definition of what underdeveloped land means.”
Additionally, Mr Golding raised concerns over the fact that the bill doesn’t provide the land owner or developer the opportunity to appeal their case.
However, Greens MLC Robert Simms defended the bill by saying it has passed through the upper house due to the government’s in-principle support while they work though the details.
“Certainly (the bill) won’t be passed through the parliament in its current form,” he said.
“But it’s not unusual for bills to win support from the upper house and then for the government to work with the crossbench to make changes.”
Mr Simms said the bill will work predominantly to motivate developers.
“What this bill is trying to do is incentivise the land owners in circumstances where they have no intent of developing it and it’s suitable for development … to do something with the land,” Mr Simms said.
“We don’t have the luxury of people being able to hoard vacant land while people sleep on the street … we’re in the middle of a housing crisis.”
Mr Simms pointed to the former Le Cornu site, located on O’Connell St, as the prime example of when land should have been taken over by the government.
The furniture retailer sold the property in 1989 leaving behind a gaping hole for decades in the heart of Adelaide – with construction commencing in 2022 to deliver 160 new apartments.
But Mr Golding said the development industry is looking to build houses everyday and is being held back by bureaucracy.
“We’re being held back by approvals and procedures and the provision of infrastructure to enable development to occur,” Mr Golding said. “What we need to be focusing on is removing the impediments to development, rather than trying to put new roadblocks.”
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Originally published as Controversial bill allowing government to seize control of private land faces backlash
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