Roger Jaensch,Minister for Planning
In great news for development and jobs in Tasmania, The Land Use Planning and Approvals Amendment (Major Projects) Bill 2020 has tonight passed the House of Assembly.
This is vitally important legislation that will help our state’s ongoing recovery from COVID-19 by providing the framework we need to attract investment and create jobs for Tasmanians, at a time when we need it most
It sends a clear message that Tasmania is open for business and ready for complex projects that will significantly benefit our state, while providing clarity and certainty for investors and the community and complementing Tasmania’s other planning assessment and approvals processes.
And as we have consistently said, there are no fast-tracks, short-cuts or easy routes and while the Greens wasted their time in Parliament trying to scare people, any suggestion it will be used to bypass normal processes to approve controversial projects is simply wrong.
The assessment of a Major Project is undertaken by a panel of independent experts, specially convened by the Tasmanian Planning Commission, and provides for multiple opportunities for public consultation.
Anyone opposed to specific projects should welcome such a comprehensive and robust process.
Today’s passing follows three separate stages of community consultation to ensure the legislation strikes the right balance and ensures we have the right framework in place to attract investment and assess major projects in a coordinated way.
The last round of consultation was extended by five weeks and received more than 1700 submissions. The Government has considered each of these carefully and refined the final Bill based on that feedback.
We now look forward to the Bill’s passage through the Upper House.
