State Government threatens to abandon Major Project laws

The state government is threatening to abandon its Major Projects Bill after proposed changes to the legislation “may render it unusable in practice”.

• Majority of submissions oppose Major Projects bill
• Major project law strikes right balance, Premier says

The state government has threatened to torpedo its own flagship major projects legislation if it is amended by the Legislative Council.

The bill has been passed by the House of Assembly and is heading for debate in the Upper House.

The new law will apply to projects which are of high value, are considered complex or identified as being of major significance — by taking decisions out of the hands of local councils and giving the power of approval to an expert panel.

The reforms have been condemned by a coalition of environment and planning groups on the grounds that they could potentially fast-track controversial projects in sensitive areas.

Amendments have been flagged in the Upper House to ban developers who make political donations to the government from relying on the legislation and to create a right of appeal against decisions.

But Planning Minister Roger Jaensch has written to his Labor counterpart Anita Dow threatening to abandon the legislation if Labor attempts to make changes again.

“I am advised that these amendments fundamentally alter the policy intent of the Bill, may render it unusable in practice and may have serious implications for the role and decisions of the Tasmanian Planning Commission in the broader planning system,” he wrote.

Labor member Anita Dow in state parliament.

“On that basis, I confirm that the Liberal Party’s position on these amendments has not changed.

“We consider them to be fatal to this bill and will not support them in the Legislative Council debate.

“Further we will not support the Bill on its return to the House of Assembly, if so amended.”

Mrs Dow described the government’s actions as “childish” and showed they did not understand the role of parliament in debating and shaping legislation.

“Peter Gutwein and Roger Jaensch seem to have forgotten that we live in a democracy and that the government is ultimately answerable to the parliament,” she said.

“Labor’s amendments to major projects legislation are measured and sensible and have been developed in response to concerns raised by the public. This includes requiring developers to disclose donations to political parties, any member of Tasmanian parliament or candidate, and prohibiting the declaration of a major project if the proponent has donated to a political party or MP in the previous three years.

“The Liberal Government’s threat to vote against its own legislation – which it claims is critical to creating jobs for Tasmanians and our state’s COVID recovery – is extraordinary.

“This is all about Peter Gutwein wanting to keep donations from developers secret.”

Follow @DavidJKillick