The Chief Minister wants to hand herself - and an unelected bureaucrat - sweeping and unprecedented powers to override and fast-track environmental approvals for some of the most destructive projects in the country.
If the proposal is passed into law, it could mean that the Territory Coordinator and Chief Minister have the power to step in and undertake an assessment of projects themselves, instead of the NT Environmental Protection Authority or other relevant decision-makers. It could also mean that the Territory Coordinator and Chief Minister could exempt projects from approvals altogether.
This proposal is the death knell for the recommendations of the Pepper Inquiry into fracking, and could see fracking and gas pipelines as well as cotton expansion and carbon dumping approved with no oversight, no community input, and no environmental assessment.
We are aiming to bring the community together on Tuesday 26 November 2024 at Parliament House, where we will also table a petition urging the withdrawal of plans to establish the role of Territory Coordinator and bulldoze democracy and accountability in the NT.
Will you sign the petition and join us on the 26th?
The full text of the petition, in the format required by the NT Parliament, follows.
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To the Speaker and the Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
We the undersigned respectfully showeth:
We are opposed to the proposed functions and powers to be given to the Territory Coordinator and the Chief Minister, as outlined in the Territory Coordinator consultation paper. In particular we are deeply concerned about the following proposed measures:
- Empowering the Territory Coordinator to direct decision-makers to make decisions within certain timeframes;
- Empowering the Territory Coordinator and Chief Minister to “step in” and undertake an assessment themselves instead of the NTEPA or other relevant decision-makers;
- Empowering the Territory Coordinator and Chief Minister to exempt projects from approvals;
- The introduction of a “primary principle” for decision making that elevates the objective of driving economic prosperity above all other considerations.
These proposals threaten to undermine oversight and accountability for projects in the Nothern Territory.
Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that:
The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory recommends the immediate withdrawal of the proposal to establish the Territory Coordinator under the terms proposed.
And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.