The Environmental Defence Society has stated in their submission on the Fast-track Approvals Bill that there is no need for this Bill. It is “purporting to speed up decision-making when its real purpose is to enable environmental harm with impunity,” says EDS Chief Executive, Gary Taylor.

“Ministers will have unprecedented powers to approve pet projects. The public will be precluded from having any say. Development is given absolute priority in an astonishingly unbalanced set of decision-making criteria.”

The EDS view is that there are already provisions in law that enable fast decision-making on major projects.

The 78-page EDS submission can be read here.