As minister says process needs to be ‘streamlined’, Greens and Lock the Gate say the legislation is ‘corrupt’ and tears up environmental protections.
The Greens have called the move “corrupt” and community action group Lock the Gate Alliance said the state’s LNP government was “tearing up democratic and environmental protections just to make life easier for mining companies”.
Queensland produces most of Australia’s coal and has the country’s second-largest mining industry, behind Western Australia.
In the case of mining leases, the decision-maker is the resources minister.
A spokesperson for the Oakey Coal Action Alliance, a group of local farmers which litigated the case for 11 years, said the group had won its right to be heard at the high court.
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A spokesperson for the Oakey Coal Action Alliance, a group of local farmers which litigated the case for 11 years.
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The article, shortened and in plain language
As minister says process needs to be ‘streamlined’, Greens and Lock the Gate say the legislation is ‘corrupt’ and tears up environmental protections.
Queenslanders’ right to object to mining projects – including coal – would be “gutted” by new legislation that would ban opponents from being heard in court without the minister’s approval and then only if they owned a property within a 125km radius of the project.
The Greens have called the move “corrupt” and community action group Lock the Gate Alliance said the state’s LNP government was “tearing up democratic and environmental protections just to make life easier for mining companies”.
The state’s minister for natural resources, Dale Last, who tabled the legislation on Tuesday, said the bill was “about streamlining approvals and making faster decisions”.
Queensland produces most of Australia’s coal and has the country’s second-largest mining industry, behind Western Australia.
Under current law an objection to a mining project is automatically referred to the state’s land court for independent consideration.
In the case of mining leases, the decision-maker is the resources minister.
The government last year cancelled a months-long review of the laws dealing with objections to mining leases by the independent Queensland Law Reform Commission, weeks before it would have released its findings.
A spokesperson for the Oakey Coal Action Alliance, a group of local farmers which litigated the case for 11 years, said the group had won its right to be heard at the high court.
Queensland’s LNP government expanded objection rights against planning approvals for windfarms last year, and recently passed legislation permitting the government to compulsorily acquire land for coal mining.
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