Originally published by Matthew Denholm of The Courier Mail
02.06.2026
The Opposition has accused the state government of “power grabbing” after Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie stripped regulations from critical minerals and eco-tourism project proposals.
Mr Bleijie had introduced legislation allowing developers to bypass environmental and heritage laws by giving himself new powers to declare projects of “strategic” significance for the state.
The projects could be fast-tracked under a major planning change the government argues will strengthen the Queensland economy.
Legislation is set to be introduced this week to give the government new powers to declare developments “state strategic projects”.
Under the proposal, projects would be considered by the Office of the Co-ordinator-General.
State Development Minister Jarrod Bleijie would then have the power to overrule the co-ordinator-general’s decision or direct that a project bypass current laws, including environment or heritage laws.
The power to bypass legislation during approvals already exists for road projects and was used by the government to fast-track a series of Olympic-related developments.
The state government said creating a new assessment pathway would improve investment certainty and help deliver projects considered of the highest significance to Queensland.
Mr Bleijie said Queensland should take advantage of the growing global demand for critical minerals.
“Queensland has an abundance of critical minerals and we’re grabbing hold of an incredible opportunity,” he said.
“A new wave of resources investment is on the way and we’re giving investors the certainty they need to get projects started sooner.”
The legislation will also improve planning and co-ordination for trunk infrastructure, including roads, power and water pipelines needed to support major projects.
Association of Mining and Exploration Companies chief executive Warren Pearce said the new assessment would improve project timelines and reduce application duplication.
Deputy Opposition Leader Cameron Dick said Queenslanders should be “deeply concerned” over the move after Mr Bleijie last year passed similar laws for Olympic and Paralympic Games projects.
“I think Queenslanders will be deeply concerned that a government is seeking to grab more power for itself and ride roughshod over the legitimate concerns of Queenslanders,” he said.
“You know, we’ve seen this time and time again from this government, botched laws rush through the parliament that makes things make things worse.”
Mr Dick speculated that Mr Bleijie now held the power to approve mining projects on national parkland.
“The last government that wanted to mine in national parks was the Bjelke Peterson government that wanted to mine in the Great Barrier Reef for oil and petroleum,” he said.
“We want Queensland to be a place for prosperity and growth, everyone wants that, but it can’t be done at the expense of legitimate concerns of Queenslanders, and for the Deputy Premier to say today, well, he’s not going to mine in national parks, I think people would be deeply concerned about why he has to say that at all.
“It just shows you the level of power that the Deputy Premier has been given through this legislation.”