Games get the tick, renewables the stick under new laws
The construction of 2032 Olympic venues will be fast-tracked, and renewable energy projects will face greater scrutiny, after a state parliament passed a controversial bill.
Queensland's Liberal National government rammed through laws late on Thursday that will see Brisbane 2032 venues exempt from local planning laws.
Victoria Park in Brisbane's inner-city is expected to become the Games hub, with a 63,000-seat main stadium and a nearby national aquatic centre set to be built.
The Games infrastructure authority, tasked with orchestrating the construction of venues, will not be subject to 15 planning laws, including the Environmental Protection, Queensland Heritage and Nature Conservation Acts.
Final planning sign-off will fall to the state government for all venues and athletes' villages, not local councils.
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said the bill is about getting on with the job and delivering the 2032 Games.
"Queenslanders have put trust in the Crisafulli government and we will get on with the job," he told parliament.
"We are ending the inertia plaguing the Olympic and Paralympic Games and getting the games back on track after 1,200 days of chaos and crisis from those opposite."
The bill was subject to committee scrutiny, where stakeholders claimed it would set a dangerous precedent for future planning and energy infrastructure projects across Queensland.
Renewable energy developers will need to undertake community consultation prior to project approvals under the legislation.
Opposition leader Steven Miles labelled the bill a disaster soaked in ideology.
"It's a smoke screen. It is ideological zealotry from a party that has always hated renewables," he told parliament.
"Under the premier's leadership, the LNP has no energy road-map, no modelling and no plan, just roadblocks, confusion and chaos.
"Queenslanders are getting an LNP ideology masquerading as policy."
Greens MP Michael Berkman inferred the bill is taking Queensland back to the era under former premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, beginning his submission on the laws with "Here we Joh again".
"There's one promise that the LNP is clearly determined to keep, and that's taking us backwards on renewable energy," he said.
"This bill rule results in stricter regulatory requirements for a two-hectare solar farm than for a coal mine that extracts any less than two million tons per annum of coal."
But government MPs rejected any criticism of the bill.
"We're not afraid to say coal on this side of the chamber," Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dale Last said.
Hervey Bay MP David Lee queried how "Labor members would think about wind or solar farms in their city electorates."
Budget papers on Tuesday locked in the LNP's pre-election promise to scrap targets from the former Labor government's renewable energy goals in the energy power grid.
Those were 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030, 70 per cent by 2032 and 80 per cent by 2035.
The state will no longer track how much renewable energy is contributing to the grid, calling it a "discontinued measure".
Wind, solar and hydro projects accounted for more than a quarter of the state's power in 2024/25 while coal contributed nearly 65 per cent, with the remainder supplied from gas.
After the government budget was delivered earlier this week with a record $205 billion debt weighing down the bottom line, the state opposition will deliver its response on Thursday.
The construction of 2032 Olympic venues will be fast-tracked, and renewable energy projects will face greater scrutiny, after a state parliament passed a controversial bill.
Queensland's Liberal National government rammed through laws late on Thursday that will see Brisbane 2032 venues exempt from local planning laws.
Victoria Park in Brisbane's inner-city is expected to become the Games hub, with a 63,000-seat main stadium and a nearby national aquatic centre set to be built.
The Games infrastructure authority, tasked with orchestrating the construction of venues, will not be subject to 15 planning laws, including the Environmental Protection, Queensland Heritage and Nature Conservation Acts.
Final planning sign-off will fall to the state government for all venues and athletes' villages, not local councils.
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said the bill is about getting on with the job and delivering the 2032 Games.
"Queenslanders have put trust in the Crisafulli government and we will get on with the job," he told parliament.
"We are ending the inertia plaguing the Olympic and Paralympic Games and getting the games back on track after 1,200 days of chaos and crisis from those opposite."
The bill was subject to committee scrutiny, where stakeholders claimed it would set a dangerous precedent for future planning and energy infrastructure projects across Queensland.
Renewable energy developers will need to undertake community consultation prior to project approvals under the legislation.
Opposition leader Steven Miles labelled the bill a disaster soaked in ideology.
"It's a smoke screen. It is ideological zealotry from a party that has always hated renewables," he told parliament.
"Under the premier's leadership, the LNP has no energy road-map, no modelling and no plan, just roadblocks, confusion and chaos.
"Queenslanders are getting an LNP ideology masquerading as policy."
Greens MP Michael Berkman inferred the bill is taking Queensland back to the era under former premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, beginning his submission on the laws with "Here we Joh again".
"There's one promise that the LNP is clearly determined to keep, and that's taking us backwards on renewable energy," he said.
"This bill rule results in stricter regulatory requirements for a two-hectare solar farm than for a coal mine that extracts any less than two million tons per annum of coal."
But government MPs rejected any criticism of the bill.
"We're not afraid to say coal on this side of the chamber," Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dale Last said.
Hervey Bay MP David Lee queried how "Labor members would think about wind or solar farms in their city electorates."
Budget papers on Tuesday locked in the LNP's pre-election promise to scrap targets from the former Labor government's renewable energy goals in the energy power grid.
Those were 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030, 70 per cent by 2032 and 80 per cent by 2035.
The state will no longer track how much renewable energy is contributing to the grid, calling it a "discontinued measure".
Wind, solar and hydro projects accounted for more than a quarter of the state's power in 2024/25 while coal contributed nearly 65 per cent, with the remainder supplied from gas.
After the government budget was delivered earlier this week with a record $205 billion debt weighing down the bottom line, the state opposition will deliver its response on Thursday.
The construction of 2032 Olympic venues will be fast-tracked, and renewable energy projects will face greater scrutiny, after a state parliament passed a controversial bill.
Queensland's Liberal National government rammed through laws late on Thursday that will see Brisbane 2032 venues exempt from local planning laws.
Victoria Park in Brisbane's inner-city is expected to become the Games hub, with a 63,000-seat main stadium and a nearby national aquatic centre set to be built.
The Games infrastructure authority, tasked with orchestrating the construction of venues, will not be subject to 15 planning laws, including the Environmental Protection, Queensland Heritage and Nature Conservation Acts.
Final planning sign-off will fall to the state government for all venues and athletes' villages, not local councils.
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said the bill is about getting on with the job and delivering the 2032 Games.
"Queenslanders have put trust in the Crisafulli government and we will get on with the job," he told parliament.
"We are ending the inertia plaguing the Olympic and Paralympic Games and getting the games back on track after 1,200 days of chaos and crisis from those opposite."
The bill was subject to committee scrutiny, where stakeholders claimed it would set a dangerous precedent for future planning and energy infrastructure projects across Queensland.
Renewable energy developers will need to undertake community consultation prior to project approvals under the legislation.
Opposition leader Steven Miles labelled the bill a disaster soaked in ideology.
"It's a smoke screen. It is ideological zealotry from a party that has always hated renewables," he told parliament.
"Under the premier's leadership, the LNP has no energy road-map, no modelling and no plan, just roadblocks, confusion and chaos.
"Queenslanders are getting an LNP ideology masquerading as policy."
Greens MP Michael Berkman inferred the bill is taking Queensland back to the era under former premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, beginning his submission on the laws with "Here we Joh again".
"There's one promise that the LNP is clearly determined to keep, and that's taking us backwards on renewable energy," he said.
"This bill rule results in stricter regulatory requirements for a two-hectare solar farm than for a coal mine that extracts any less than two million tons per annum of coal."
But government MPs rejected any criticism of the bill.
"We're not afraid to say coal on this side of the chamber," Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dale Last said.
Hervey Bay MP David Lee queried how "Labor members would think about wind or solar farms in their city electorates."
Budget papers on Tuesday locked in the LNP's pre-election promise to scrap targets from the former Labor government's renewable energy goals in the energy power grid.
Those were 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030, 70 per cent by 2032 and 80 per cent by 2035.
The state will no longer track how much renewable energy is contributing to the grid, calling it a "discontinued measure".
Wind, solar and hydro projects accounted for more than a quarter of the state's power in 2024/25 while coal contributed nearly 65 per cent, with the remainder supplied from gas.
After the government budget was delivered earlier this week with a record $205 billion debt weighing down the bottom line, the state opposition will deliver its response on Thursday.
The construction of 2032 Olympic venues will be fast-tracked, and renewable energy projects will face greater scrutiny, after a state parliament passed a controversial bill.
Queensland's Liberal National government rammed through laws late on Thursday that will see Brisbane 2032 venues exempt from local planning laws.
Victoria Park in Brisbane's inner-city is expected to become the Games hub, with a 63,000-seat main stadium and a nearby national aquatic centre set to be built.
The Games infrastructure authority, tasked with orchestrating the construction of venues, will not be subject to 15 planning laws, including the Environmental Protection, Queensland Heritage and Nature Conservation Acts.
Final planning sign-off will fall to the state government for all venues and athletes' villages, not local councils.
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said the bill is about getting on with the job and delivering the 2032 Games.
"Queenslanders have put trust in the Crisafulli government and we will get on with the job," he told parliament.
"We are ending the inertia plaguing the Olympic and Paralympic Games and getting the games back on track after 1,200 days of chaos and crisis from those opposite."
The bill was subject to committee scrutiny, where stakeholders claimed it would set a dangerous precedent for future planning and energy infrastructure projects across Queensland.
Renewable energy developers will need to undertake community consultation prior to project approvals under the legislation.
Opposition leader Steven Miles labelled the bill a disaster soaked in ideology.
"It's a smoke screen. It is ideological zealotry from a party that has always hated renewables," he told parliament.
"Under the premier's leadership, the LNP has no energy road-map, no modelling and no plan, just roadblocks, confusion and chaos.
"Queenslanders are getting an LNP ideology masquerading as policy."
Greens MP Michael Berkman inferred the bill is taking Queensland back to the era under former premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, beginning his submission on the laws with "Here we Joh again".
"There's one promise that the LNP is clearly determined to keep, and that's taking us backwards on renewable energy," he said.
"This bill rule results in stricter regulatory requirements for a two-hectare solar farm than for a coal mine that extracts any less than two million tons per annum of coal."
But government MPs rejected any criticism of the bill.
"We're not afraid to say coal on this side of the chamber," Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dale Last said.
Hervey Bay MP David Lee queried how "Labor members would think about wind or solar farms in their city electorates."
Budget papers on Tuesday locked in the LNP's pre-election promise to scrap targets from the former Labor government's renewable energy goals in the energy power grid.
Those were 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030, 70 per cent by 2032 and 80 per cent by 2035.
The state will no longer track how much renewable energy is contributing to the grid, calling it a "discontinued measure".
Wind, solar and hydro projects accounted for more than a quarter of the state's power in 2024/25 while coal contributed nearly 65 per cent, with the remainder supplied from gas.
After the government budget was delivered earlier this week with a record $205 billion debt weighing down the bottom line, the state opposition will deliver its response on Thursday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Labor's pork-barrelling answer managed 'effectively'
A controversial community grant scheme spreading $37.2 million across 93 electorates has been cleared of pork-barrelling claims but conflicts of interest concerns linger. The NSW auditor-general on Thursday published its verdict after two years of consternation from the coalition over the integrity, efficacy and value of Labor's taxpayer-funded Local Small Commitments Allocation scheme. The grants program, announced by Labor before it swept to power in the 2023 NSW election, allowed each Labor candidate to nominate projects for $400,000 in funding. Nominations could be made by candidates with no prosect of winning. Several coalition MPs described the scheme as a "slush fund" where "taxpayer money is being used to try to buy votes". But Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji said the government had effectively administered the program and complied with grants administration laws as it divvied the pot between 644 projects. He identified two concerns around conflicts of interest of 54 panel members recommending the grants and minor administrative errors. Liberal MP Chris Rath, who was among a group of MPs critical of the grant, argued the report was "scathing." He called on Premier Chris Minns to order a conflict of interest check on all 93 Labor candidates the party fielded in 2023. The government office overseeing the grants program only reviewed such checks for 17 candidates, put forward by Special Minister of State John Graham. Two grants were subsequently not approved. The office said it had received verbal confirmation that conflict-of-interest processes had been implemented by Labor for all electorates. But it hadn't asked for documentation supporting those claims, the auditor-general's report said. More than 50 "moderate risk" conflicts of interest of panel members approving a total of 644 grants also should have been passed onto a probity adviser before ending up on the special minister's desk, the report said. A spokesman for Mr Graham said it accepted the audit office's recommendations to tighten up its processes. Labor's grants program followed a report in two damning indictments of coalition-organised grants programs. A 2023 report from the auditor-general found the former coalition government intervened to effectively exclude Labor electorates from receiving bushfire recovery funding. Another grants round, the $252 million Stronger Communities Fund, came under a cloud when an upper house inquiry found 95 per cent of the funds went to councils in coalition-held or marginal seats under the Berejiklian government.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman pledges AI rollout as part of NSW budget response
Artificial intelligence (AI) would be rolled out across government agencies and free loans offered to businesses adopting the technology, if the Coalition was running New South Wales. In reply to the state budget on Thursday, Opposition Leader Mark Speakman revealed the alternative government's plan to embrace the technological revolution, including establishing the state's first minister for AI. Mr Speakman said Labor had failed to address low productivity growth, which the budget papers forecasted to continue absent "meaningful reforms or a major technological breakthrough". "A Coalition government would embrace, would embed, responsible artificial intelligence across public service processes," Mr Speakman told the legislative assembly. Mr Speakman said the idea was "to improve services, to free up teachers, healthcare professionals and public servants" and alleviate "unnecessary administrative burdens". He said a Liberal-National government would bring in a zero-or-low-interest loan scheme for small and medium businesses looking to introduce "responsible AI" into their operations. On housing policy, the Coalition vowed to pause charges imposed on developers in a bid to make home building more viable and boost stock. Under the Housing and Productivity Contribution, developers are required to pay up to $12,000 per unit in Greater Sydney. The Property Council of Australia said on Tuesday up to 40 per cent of the cost of a development consisted of state and local charges. Mr Speakman said the contribution would not be charged until the end of the National Housing Accord, which runs until July 2029. "Affordability starts with supply. Supply starts with government that gets out of the way, not one that stacks on more costs," he said. The Coalition launched an attack over what it called a "slush fund" of more than $868,000 in the budget. According to the budget papers, the "special appropriation" fund for the treasurer is for spending related to "state contingencies … election commitments and essential services". Mr Speakman told parliament the fund was "so broadly defined that it could be used for almost anything". "If the government has specific plans for this funding, the public deserves to know," he said. A special appropriation fund is a standard feature of budgets, but the amount has risen significantly from the $178 million allocation in last year's budget. Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said it was "obvious" why there was a higher level of contingency funding. "Members can examine the events of May in NSW and reach their own conclusion," he said, in an apparent reference to last month's flood disaster. The budget Dominic Perrottet delivered as treasurer in 2021-22 contained $806 million for "COVID-19-related expenses" as well as "changes in wage awards and conditions". Extra expenses that could come out of this year's fund include wage rises ordered by the Industrial Relations Commission and the cost of running the Northern Beaches Hospital if the government was to take over the facility.
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
Miles gets the blues with ‘Temu' Labor budget in reply speech
Queensland Opposition Leader Steven Miles has blasted the Crisafulli government's first state budget as full of broken promises, while claiming credit for many of its measures and announcing some new ones of his own. In his first budget reply speech on Thursday, the former premier said the best parts of Treasurer David Janetzki's budget were continuing Labor initiatives. 'It's just a Temu version of what we had planned,' Miles said of the budget during his 58-minute speech in parliament. 'Labor's 50¢ fares, our signature transport policy. Help to Buy – a Labor initiative. All of the capital program is Labor's – just less of it and delivered later. 'Health checks for kids? Labor policy. Fair play vouchers? That was ours too. So we welcome all of those things.' Miles used the speech to announce some new Labor policies, including a $10 million commitment to assist the community services sector store, refrigerate and distribute food to vulnerable people across the state should Labor be returned to power in 2028. 'It's not the answer to the growing problem that is food insecurity, but it's one way I know we can make a practical difference,' he said. What had been a 20-year commitment to reduce land tax by 50 per cent for build-to-rent developments in 2023 would also be extended. 'The rental market is continuing to tighten and vacancy rates remain incredibly low – that's why driving this kind of investment is what we need,' he said.
