New law too important to rush

STATE DEVELOPMENT

I AM very disappointed the Government has given the Tasmanian public a token extension for commenting on the Major Projects Bill and changes to planning laws. The deadline has been extended for a little over a month due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Hardly fair when the Federal Government is talking in terms of six months or longer until we are over this.

The Major Projects Bill could be used to override the authority of local councils in order to wave through such projects as a Westbury prison, skyscrapers in Launceston and Hobart, Mt Wellington cable car and Lake Malbena heli-tourism development. Changes to state planning laws will affect almost all Tasmanians but with less opportunity for public comment. Tasmanians need time to understand what these changes will mean but we are preoccupied with surviving COVID-19 and the changes it has brought to our lives. Deadlines for comment need to be postponed until we are ready to look beyond COVID-19.

PLANS: Mountain May Day Rally, 2018.

how that works) will be curtailed if it just becomes a professional process? Is that what they’re scared of? Imagine if criminal law was administered the same way as we currently do planning law. other states have chosen the expert panel pathway doesn’t mean Tasmania should. The Planning Commission is part of a respected system but is under increasing attack from organisations such as Property Council, Housing Industry Association and Master Builders Association.

The TPC must remain independent of government and vested interests. Tasmania could copy NSW with an Independent Commission Against Corruption, needed more than ever as land use planning and rezoning is one of the most common areas of corruption in Australia.