Commonwealth Coordinator General

Question

During estimates,  Senator Waters asked DCCEEW and the Environment Minister about a proposal to establish a Commonwealth Coordinator-General. They said they had been consulted by Treasury on the proposal.  ●We’ve seen in the NT and Queensland that Coordinator-Generals allow massive, destructive developments to avoid public scrutiny and bypass environment and cultural heritage laws. Is Treasury consulting on a Coordinator-General proposal that would follow the model of NT and Queensland, where projects can be exempted from public scrutiny, and environment and heritage laws?If not, what does the proposal you’ve consulted on do? What assessment processes or activities would the proposed Coordinator-General seek to streamline?  ●Was the proposal initiated by Treasury, or another Department? Was the proposal requested by industry? If so, please provide details? ●Who has been consulted? Which other Ministers and Departments? Have Industry bodies or representatives been consulted? Are there more people or organisations you plan to consult? ●Is the proposal proceeding?What are the next steps?

Answer

See attached response.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• BI-285_Waters_Coordinator General_DISR.pdf (opens in a new tab)