TasFarmers Matters - Double standards won't do

Double standards by political parties erode confidence in government decision-making processes. 

This leads the long-suffering public to rightfully question if there is a level playing field for everyone. 

Unfortunately, one doesn’t have to look far for a double standard in Tasmania. The Macquarie Point Precinct development process is a good example.

This has been drawn out over a decade for many, and varied reasons and the public are quite rightly frustrated. 

To move forward, the government plans to legislate a pathway that goes against the advice of their  own Project of State Significant Planning Process which recommend that the project not continue. 

It’s not for me to say if this project is right or wrong for the state, but no private investor would persevere for 10  plus years in order to proceed with a private project in any state. 

If a private investor had been trying to redevelop the Macquarie Point site for this long, facing endless challenges and road-blocks they would have given up and taken their money elsewhere – probably five years ago. Just like so many other projects.

While it is admirable that the government has persevered with this project, it would be more admirable if they  simply enacted reforms to speed up approvals process for all projects. The old saying of “the standard you walk past is the standard you accept” has never rung truer. 

Legislating a pathway around this significant problem may fix this current single issue for the Government, but it does nothing to address the broader issue of planning reform in the state which is holding back investment in every sector in the economy. 

To give residents of the state and investors outside of the state confidence that we are open for business, we need genuine reform around our planning scheme, local councils and state-owned companies. 

These reforms should deliver solutions that can be used by anyone, that are genuine and get to the heart of issues. This will attract investment and grow confidence. 

Similarly, recent consultation with North West communities that fall within the North West Renewable Energy Zone have raised some double-standard concerns. 

The government, in its consultation materials, highlighted the importance for private renewable project proponents to ensure neighbouring landholders (not just hosting landholders) be paid ‘proximity payments’ for the life of renewable energy projects. 

The Government put forward as an example that households within three kilometres of a wind turbine should be paid an annual payment for the life of the private project – to create social licence and a sense of fair compensation. Frustratingly, Energy and Renewables Minister Nick Duigan  last week in parliament confirmed that it will not make available to neighbouring landholders any proximity payments for the Government-owned 240km North West Transmission Development.

While hosting landholders of this link between Palmerston and Burnie will be eligible for compensation, neighbouring landholders who may be impacted by a drop in property value will not be recognised or compensated at all. 

This does not pass any sort of community pub test. Why should a landholder not be recognised as being impacted and eligible for compensation just because a project is Government-owned as opposed to privately-owned?

Both these cases show the Government is using the mantra of “do as I say, not as I do”. 

To create confidence, planning laws should be reformed so that all projects can be universally assessed for approval within a reasonable timeframe.

Likewise, landholders should be treated the same with universal compensation arrangements regardless of if they are affected by a government or private energy renewable project. 

Surely that seems fair?