Queensland bill gives minister power to override laws
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- Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie unveiled the State Development and Public Works Organisation (Critical Minerals) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 on 2 June, pitching it as a way to keep Queensland "front of the pack" in critical minerals investment by "streamlining" approvals for projects of "strategic significance."
- Critics, including Queensland Conservation Council acting director Anthony Gough, say the bill's Henry VIII clause gives the development minister "carte blanche to fast-track all sorts of developments, including in national parks" by overriding existing laws "with the stroke of a pen."
- Matt and Caitlin Wood, who run a regenerative farm on 120ha at Springbrook mountain, fear the new legislation would enable compulsory acquisition of their property for a proposed cableway first pitched in 1998, rejected in 2000, and revived by Gold Coast council two decades later.
- Darling Downs farmer Liza Balmain told the Guardian the bill would override the regional interests development approval (Rida) process — described as "their last hurdle" for Arrow Energy's Surat gas project to drill on Cecil Plains farms.
- More than 70 farmers and 275 regional Queenslanders signed an open letter calling on the government to withdraw the bill and restart it "with a process of genuine community consultation."
- Queensland Law Society president Peter Jolly wrote in a parliamentary submission that the bill amounts to "systematic removal of third-party appeal and objection rights" — a "functional denial of natural justice" — as a parliamentary inquiry prepares to report on Friday.
Why it matters: The bill's Henry VIII clause and removal of merit-based Planning and Environment Court appeals give one minister authority to bypass the Nature Conservation Act and other protections for projects on private farmland, with the Queensland Law Society calling the change a "functional denial of natural justice" for affected landowners.
