LawAlert: land clearing, community objection rights and more!

TABLE OF CONTENTS • Land clearing: submissions close 25 April • Full reinstatement of community objection rights welcomed • Chain of Responsibility Bill • Proposed “one-stop-shop” laws lapse Court timetable New Acland Stage 3 Project objection, Qld Land Court Hearing currently on break until Monday 9 May 2016. Adani Carmichael Federal Court objection, Federal Court Hearing 3-4 May 2016. Alpha Coal Mine appeal, Qld Court of Appeal Hearing 7 June 2016. Land clearing: submissions close 25 April! Thank you to the 140 people who came to our LawJams on land clearing in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast this month. Land clearing affects our wildlife, the quality of our soils, the health of our Reef from soil-erosion, and even leads to worse drought in Qld. Don’t forget to make a submission to the Committee considering the Bill to help ensure it gets passed. For a basic template and tips on key points, see here. Full reinstatement of community objection rights welcomed EDO Qld’s Revel Pointon fronted the Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources Parliamentary Committee on Monday to support full reinstatement of community objection rights. We reminded the Committee that there have been no examples of frivolous and vexatious litigation found by the Land Court, contrary to the false claims promoted by the resource industry. Read more… Chain of Responsibility Bill – Committee Report tabled The Qld Government’s Chain of Responsibility Bill gives valuable powers to the Environment Department to help ensure those who profit from resources clean up their mess. This legislation is essential for safeguarding Qld against the repercussions of the steady downturn of the mining sector. The Bill was recently referred to the Agriculture and Environment Committee for consideration. The Committee Report has now been tabled. Read more… Proposed “one-stop-shop” laws lapse The EPBC Amendment (Bilateral Agreement Implementation) Bill 2014 has now lapsed. Congratulations everyone on the consistent and persistent advocacy that stopped the “one-stop-shop” of devolving Commonwealth environmental powers to the States. Read more… -=-=-Environmental Defenders Office Queensland · Australia You can also keep up with EDO Qld on Twitter or Facebook. -=-=-