“Sea of oil:” Planning minister who stopped wind projects gets special powers to fast track petroleum

A plan to give a deputy premier the power to override a state government’s environmental laws for “strategic” projects has come under fire from a conservation group.

The Queensland government has introduced legislation giving Jarrod Bleijie the ability to bypass environmental and heritage laws for projects of “strategic” significance.

Mr Bleijie, who is also the state development minister, and who has “called in” a number of renewable and storage projects, and outright rejected one previously approved wind project, said the new legislation would be used for projects such as petroleum exploration in the Taroom Trough on Queensland’s Western Downs.

The 43,000 square kilometre area west of Brisbane has been described as a “sea of oil” by Premier David Crisafulli, and been touted as a project that would fuel the state’s energy needs.

The legislation will give the government the power to declare developments “state strategic projects” that would be considered by the Office of the Co-ordinator-General.

However, Mr Bleijie will have the power to overrule the co-ordinator-general.

The new state legislation was “all about economic delivery in Queensland, it’s about getting stuff done”, Mr Bleijie told reporters on the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday.

“The legislation I introduced goes even further into looking at projects of resource significance,” he said.

He said the laws allowed him to declare state-significant projects not only in the resource sector but also eco-tourism, creating job opportunities and allowing international visitors to go into world-class facilities.

“It fast-tracks approval processes for lots of projects across Queensland.”

Mr Bleijie denied state opposition claims that the legislation would give him power to allow mining in national parks.

“There are protections in place,” he said.

“There’s consultations with the environment minister and other protections already in place under environmental agreements.”

Conservation groups are alarmed by the move, with Lock the Gate Alliance national co-ordinator Ellen Roberts saying the law would allow mining giants access to prime agricultural land.

She said Mr Crisafulli was backing oil and gas companies over farmers and food bowls.

“The Queensland government is selling the people of Queensland a dud,” she said.

She said that companies had long struggled to extract significant quantities of oil from the Taroom Trough, with the reserves buried over 3km underground, requiring fracking for removal.

“No amount of fast-tracking will change the fact that the project will take years, risky investment decisions, and vast new infrastructure to get off the ground.

“It’s time for Crisafulli to back Queensland’s farmers and manufacturers, not oil companies trying to get blood from a stone.”

Mr Crisafulli had previously called on the federal government to grant a national interest exemption for oil exploration under its Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act for the Taroom Trough.

Federal environment minister Murray Watt countered that the Commonwealth had received no formal application or documentation to allow the project to be considered.

AAP