Courtesy of The West Australian.
09.09.2025
Roger Cook’s mission to doing so speed up approval times for essential industry development is an admirable one.
It has been a constant gripe of business for years: it simply takes too long to get stuff done. Project proponents are made to jump through countless bureaucratic hoops, many of which are redundant or unnecessary.
The Premier’s plan for what he describes as a “bold” overhaul of the State’s 70-year-old development framework is admirable.
Under the proposed new framework, the Premier will be empowered to declare State development areas and priority projects. A co-ordinator general will do the work of co-ordinating agencies as well as identify the significant projects and areas that are in need of urgent attention.
The hope is that this will speed up approvals, meaning these significant, State-building projects are completed on time. In turn, that will keep WA’s economy ticking smoothly for decades to come.
The first projects to be pushed on to this new fast track include a Kwinana pilot plant for green steel. The project, a joint venture between Bluescope Steel, BHP and Rio Tinto, aims to produce up to 40,000t of molten iron every year. Eventually, the plant will use hydrogen technology, radically reducing its carbon output. Other industries flagged by Mr Cook as being prime candidates for the fast track include ship-building and decarbonisation projects.
The State’s enthusiasm for busting red tape and getting stuff done has been warmly received by business. Woodside called the plan “pragmatic and significant”. Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA chief executive Aaron Morey said it presented WA with a “real opportunity to capitalise on global trends that will allow our State to grow and diversify its economy”.
But the reality is that the State can only do so much. As welcome as these changes are, they’ll do nothing to prevent projects being held in development limbo by Federal processes.
We saw a prime example in the lead-up to the Federal election, when the Commonwealth repeatedly gave itself an extension while considering the future of Woodside’s North-West Shelf gas project. That project was eventually given conditional approval by Environment Minister Murray Watt in May, after months of dithering by his predecessor in the portfolio, Tanya Plibersek.
That came after six years in the WA approvals pipeline. It’s still not a done deal. Negotiations between Woodside and the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water are dragging on with a final decision not expected for weeks.
“Productivity” has been the word on the lips of every Albanese Government minister. Here’s an opportunity for them to put that into action.
Responsibility for the editorial comment is taken by WAN Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore.
