Queensland Bill Strips Community Rights Despite 90% Opposition

A controversial Queensland government bill that would hand extraordinary development powers to Deputy Premier Jared Bleijie is on track to pass Parliament next week — despite nine in ten public submissions opposing it.

The State Development and Public Works Organisation Amendment Bill 2026 would allow the Deputy Premier to designate any private development project as "significant," triggering fast-track approvals that bypass environmental and heritage laws, remove community consultation rights, and enable compulsory acquisition of private land.

On Wednesday, protesters converged on Premier David Crisafulli's Gold Coast electorate office at Paradise Point, delivering an open letter signed by more than 350 farmers, traditional owners, environmentalists and regional residents who are demanding the bill's immediate withdrawal.

Lock the Gate Alliance organiser Innes Larkin, who joined demonstrators at the site, called the legislation an "outrageous power grab."

"This bill allows the Deputy Premier to designate private development — not state development — as significant, giving the government sweeping powers to fast-track projects while cutting community consultation and bypassing environmental and heritage laws," Larkin said.

He warned the bill's criteria were vague enough to apply to any private project — mining, tourism or infrastructure — not just the critical minerals sector the government had flagged as its primary target.

The legislative process itself has drawn sharp criticism. Introduced in June without prior warning or public input, the bill attracted 90 formal submissions during a brief window. Ninety per cent of those objected to its provisions. The parliamentary committee nonetheless recommended passing the legislation without altering a single word. Parliament is expected to vote when it resumes next Tuesday.

The controversy has united a broad and unlikely coalition. AgForce, Property Rights Australia and Katter's Australian Party have all raised concerns about landowner rights, as has LNP federal member Colin Boyce. Radio broadcaster Gary Hardgrave, speaking from Paradise Point, said the pace of development across Southeast Queensland troubled him beyond any partisan divide.

"I want development that makes sense — that actually marries up with the infrastructure we need to connect people," Hardgrave said, pointing to pressures on Mount Tamborine, the Canungra district and the Redlands wetlands. "There is no overarching plan for what Southeast Queensland will look like."

Larkin agreed, warning the bill would strip planning authority from local councils — whom he described as communities' "first touch point" — and concentrate it entirely in the Deputy Premier's office.

"Southeast Queensland is blessed with magnificent landscapes around Tamborine and Canungra — that's what draws people there," he said. "This bill strips away the ability for communities to say, 'This is not our vision.' It holds all of that power in one set of hands."

The Queensland government has not publicly addressed the balance of submissions. Parliament resumes Tuesday.