Details remain murky about proposed Territory Coordinator powers

A plan to allow a senior bureaucrat to skip regulatory checks and balances will cut duplicated red tape, Finocchiaro says, despite a leaked consultation paper also suggesting regulations ‘problematic’ to economic growth could also be bypassed.

Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

A plan to allow the Territory Coordinator to bypass regulatory checks and balances aims to remove duplication between federal and Territory red tape, the Chief Minister says, but details remain murky as to what the “concerning” powers will include.

Labor, crossbenchers and community groups have condemned a consultation paper quietly sent to industry stakeholders as “anti-democratic” and “dangerous”.

The draft paper detailed a proposed sidestep for regulations stalling major projects, allowing the Territory Coordinator – a new senior public servant yet to be named – escalatory powers to override certain laws.

That included laws which duplicated other regulations, but also cases when “strict compliance” with process was deemed “unnecessary or problematic” to the “primary principal” of economic growth.

The Territory Coordinator would oversee “significant” projects, including fracking, renewables, and agriculture developments.

The Territory Coordinator will oversee projects of significance to the NT, including fracking, renewables and agriculture.

The government has remained reticent about when its Territory Coordinator Bill will be introduced to parliament, and what exactly will be included.

“There’s a lot of duplication between Territory laws and Commonwealth laws, so we’re really looking at making sure that where the Commonwealth has a set of rules and regulations and processes, we really don’t need to duplicate that,” Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro told ABC Darwin.

“I have a mandate to make change, and sometimes change is hard for people, but status quo isn’t going to cut it.

“If people want good health services, more police, better schools, we need to pay for those through growing our economy.”

Mrs Finocchiaro said the decision to seek feedback from industry stakeholders was going above and beyond regular democratic process.

“People know that this (Territory Coordinator) is an election commitment that we took to the 2020 and 2024 elections,” Mrs Finocchiaro said.

“We’ve sought that feedback from organisations, and we appreciate everyone wants more time … (but) we’re not in the business of months and months of reviews and protracted processes.

“It’s not going to be rushed … this is going through all of the normal processes and additional processes which don’t usually happen, like the draft, and we’ll take the feedback on board.”

NT Greens member for Nightcliff Kat McNamara. Picture: Fia Walsh.

Greens MLA Kat McNamara said it was “extremely concerning” to see “the Chief Minister giving herself – or an unelected bureaucrat – powers to exempt projects from existing Territory laws”.

“It is yet another sign that the CLP is more concerned with the profits of major gas corporations than with protecting the Territory’s water and environment,” she said.

“It’s not just environmental laws that will be impacted, this will have far reaching implications for other legislation and protections too. Will we see corners being cut in planning and work health and safety to rush projects across the line?

“The contempt with which the CLP is treating the public and environmental groups by excluding them from consultation on this is disgraceful.”