ENVIRONMENT law reforms passed in Parliament last week are likely to have an impact on projects waiting on federal approvals like the controversial Springview Village development and the Mount Crosby Interchange project.
Federal Member for Blair Shayne Neumann said the laws would better protect nature, while speeding up approvals for housing and transport infrastructure projects in the fast-growing Ipswich region.
The landmark reforms implement key recommendations of Professor Graeme Samuel’s independent review of the nation’s 25-year-old environmental laws, more than five years after it was handed down.
The Government’s Environment Protection Reform Bill updated the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act to better protect nature while fast-tracking approvals for housing, infrastructure, renewables and critical minerals projects.
Mr Neumann used a speech in Parliament last week to highlight that the reforms would help tackle housing supply and affordability, and road congestion and safety in the Ipswich region.
He said the EPBC laws had been holding up local housing and road projects, like the Mount Crosby Road interchange upgrade, and the reforms would allow these and future projects to be assessed more quickly to cater for strong population growth in the western corridor.
“Labor’s reforms are good for the environment, good for jobs, good for certainty and good for industry,” he said.
