Throughout the last few months, Queensland politics has filled the news with the highly publicised battle for the title of Queensland Premier. The historic election in March resulted in a landslide victory for Mr Newman, leader of the LNP. This has left the Labour Party with only seven of its previous 51 parliamentary seats, shifting the majority of power into the hands of the LNP with 78 seats.
With this significant change to the government, it is important to ask how the resources industry and the overall environment will ultimately be affected.
Within Mr Newman’s short time as Premier to date, he has already pledged to reshuffle the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) and the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI) in order to speed up the approvals process for mining related activities. As of 30 March 2012, the functions of the former DERM have been reorganised into the following departments:
The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has welcomed Mr Newman’s changes and is seeking early meetings with the new Premier and ministers to discuss the implementation of potential policies that will affect the resources industry.
As it would appear, big changes are in store for the future of the Queensland State Government and the overall environment. Be sure to keep up to date with how it might affect you, your company and your surroundings!
