Government commits $45m to streamlining development approvals
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will on Wednesday announce plans to fast-track new energy, housing and resources projects by combining federal and state approvals, committing $45 million to speed up the approvals process into a “single-touch” process.
The context: Delivering a speech hosted by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA in Perth on Wednesday, Albanese will announce the funding aimed at progressing environmental bilateral agreements with states and territories that will reduce approval duplication.
The updates will mean state and territory governments which sign a new bilateral assessment or approval agreement with the Commonwealth will be empowered to conduct assessments and approvals on the Commonwealth’s behalf, subject to new National Environmental Standards.
On the changes, Albanese will explain the median approval time for a project under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) has blown out to 118 weeks, compared to 48 weeks twenty years ago.
Albanese will explain that these delays often lead to investors walking away from projects, meaning communities miss out on jobs and Australians miss out on new energy or housing.
The $45 million in funding will help streamline the approvals process, “effectively removing an entire layer of bureaucracy,” the Prime Minister will state.
“So instead of a two-stage, two-track process, with that all the cost of delays and doubling up, this will be a one-step process, with one, clearer, faster, yes or no. After too many wasted years, this can be a circuit breaker — if the states step up and sign up.”
Albanese will also state that building and strengthening national resilience will be a key focus of the Budget it delivers in 13 days’ time.
“The world is changing, profoundly and rapidly. But here in Australia we have the resources, the people and the capacity to make that change work for us,” he will add.
“It is true that we can no longer accept with complacency that we are the last link in the global supply chain. But a country like ours, with our skills and smarts and innovation and resources, should never have settled for that in any case.”
The source: Anthony Albanese speech excerpt
