New ‘bottleneck’ fears as Opposition clears path for State Development Bill to fast-track WA approvals

The Opposition will clear a path for Roger Cook’s State Development Bill to sail through the Upper House, with surrogacy laws also expected to pass this week. A final vote on surrogacy is likely on Wednesday after a long debate, with only five sitting days left, and the State Development Bill which aims to fast-track green energy and AUKUS projects is the next in line. It would give Mr Cook, as State Development Minister, the power to declare “priority” projects to fast-track through environmental approvals. The Greens want it examined by a Parliamentary committee which would delay a vote until next year, but Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas has voiced support for Labor’s legislation. “We don’t support sending it off to the committee,” he said. “We understand this is important. We understand the significance of it, and we understand that the sector has been broadly in support of it for the right reasons, and we are supportive of it too.” Liberal MP Steve Thomas will move several amendments, but said he won’t seek to drag out the debate. “My view is that we need to get this legislation through, but we actually need to get it through in its best possible form,” he said. He wants Departments forced to table their reasons when a time frame for a decision is not met, and “step in power” for the State Coordinator to take over. “It’s a really good threat for departments do get on with the job,” Mr Thomas said. He rejected claims by the Law Society of WA that the legislation will override environmental safeguards and statutory approval processes. “The reality is that we need to get approvals going forward in a faster and more efficient manner,” Mr Thomas said. “For those groups that will be disenfranchised, obviously, there won’t be as many legal challenges, and therefore lawyers won’t make as much money.” In a letter to Premier Roger Cook, the Law Society of WA also warned the new discretionary powers could backfire. “It is likely to lead to a long line of proponent requests for special treatment with no consistent way to assess merit or priority,” Law Society President Gary Mack said. “The impact could, in effect, be a new, unneeded approval step, a new bottleneck, and a new source of potential legal challenge.” Greens MP Brad Pettit insisted the legislation needs more scrutiny. “We’ll keep arguing that case and why it should go to committee,” he said. “I don’t think we can amend this legislation into a bill that’s supportable . . . but that said, we are keen to at least get some amendments up. “This bill is not even going to work. The intended consequence of speeding up approvals, it’s not even going to achieve that.”