Following consultation and feedback a final version of the Metropolitan Planning Strategy known as Plan Melbourne has been launched While the focus of Plan Melbourne continues to be on employment cluster locations and urban renewal opportunities there is also a renewed focus in the final document on ...

New legislation in Queensland that implements a range of reforms for leasehold land has been passed and will commence on a day to be fixed by proclamation The reforms will provide greater security of tenure for rural leaseholders and are likely to make such leases more attractive to investors ...

A one stop shop for Commonwealth and state environmental approvals in Queensland and New South Wales is a step closer with the release of draft Approval Bilateral Agreements If implemented as planned Queensland and New South Wales will each become responsible for assessing and approving projects for ...

A new infrastructure planning and charging framework for Queensland has been proposed by the State Government Special Counsel Rosanne Meurling and Senior Associate Michael Zissis report on the changes to be introduced by the new framework ...

The Queensland Government has released a draft code and guideline that empowers the State to assess and decide any future wind farm projects in Queensland Partner Bill McCredie and Senior Associate Anna Vella look at the Queensland Governments new role and consider the draft code and guideline ...

The Federal Government has released a model for the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol that will have major implications for those who use genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge for biodiscovery Partner Sarah Matheson and Lawyer Julieane Bull provide an overview of changes ...

The NSW Court of Appeal has upheld the Land and Environment Courts refusal of the proposed Warkworth mine expansion This case highlights the complexity and onerous nature of the environmental assessment regime for major projects in NSW which empowers the courts to overturn a project approval despite ...

The NSW Government has released a draft Biodiversity Offsets Policy for Major Projects that will apply to the assessment of State Significant Development and State Significant Infrastructure Partner Paul Lalich Senior Associate Trent March and Lawyer Dennis Smith consider the implications of the ...

The Queensland Government has released a discussion paper setting out proposed reforms to the States land access regime for public and private land The paper closely follows other discussion papers released recently in respect of proposed reforms to restricted land and the process for notifying and ...

The Ministerial Advisory Committee appointed to review the Victorian State Planning Policy Framework has released a draft version of a new Planning Policy Framework that reorganises the policy framework into themes and updates the policy content to include new policies to support Plan Melbourne and ...