Proposed powers to exempt NT projects from environmental assessments criticised as ‘terrifying’ and ‘authoritarian’

The newly elected Northern Territory government wants to grant itself sweeping new powers to exempt major projects from environmental assessments in a move described by conservationists and Indigenous groups as authoritarian and anti-democratic.

A leaked consultation document, seen by Guardian Australia, outlines how a new Territory Coordinator (TC) would have powers to “step in” and take the role of government agencies to make assessments and approvals and could order other agencies to make decisions within a specific timeframe.

The document says under new powers, a minister could also issue “exemption notices” on significant projects, allowing them to be exempt from some regulations.

The government also wants to designate “projects of significance” that would “enable the TC to effectively expedite industry and economic development,” the document said.

The Country Liberal party, led by Lia Finocchiaro, ousted Labor in the August election. The NT parliament has no upper house and the CLP holds 17 of the assembly’s 25 seats.

Conservationists and Indigenous groups expressed shock at the move and feared the new powers could be used to push through large gas fracking projects and an agribusiness project holding the biggest ever water allocation.

The opposition leader, Labor’s Selena Uibo, said Finocchiaro was “breaking her pre-election promise to Territorians to be open and transparent.”

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The executive director of Environment Centre NT, Kirsty Howey, said the powers outlined in the document were a “terrifying new development”.

She said the “pernicious laws” were “profoundly anti-democratic” and authoritarian, and would see “power arbitrarily wielded in favour of fossil fuel company profits over communities”.

The document, which is not public, says a consultation period on the new powers ends on 1 November. Howey said the CLP could use its majority to push through the new laws as early as late November, when the parliament is due to sit for three days.

Uibo said the consultation on the new powers was “a sham” that “deliberately excludes the community”. A CLP promise that new projects would have to meet environmental rules “is now in tatters”, she said.

Kat McNamara, elected as the first ever Greens MP in the NT assembly at the last election, said Finocchiaro was giving herself powers to exempt projects at will..

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“I expected the CLP to fail Territorians on the environment, but the authoritarian flavour to these new reforms is pretty outrageous.”

Samuel Janama Sandy, a Djingili elder, chairs the Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation representing native title holders in the Beetaloo Basin being targeted by gas fracking companies.

He said: “We shouldn’t hurry things, just so frackers can push more money into their pockets. This is all about money, money, money and opening the door for big companies to do what they want here.”

Alex Vaughan, of the Arid Lands Environment Centre, said: “These proposed powers set a dangerous precedent in the Northern Territory, and they must be wholly condemned as undemocratic and unacceptable.”

Vaughan feared the new powers could be used to push through approvals for a major agribusiness development at Singleton Station, which has already been granted the largest water licence in the NT history.

In a statement, Finocchiaro said Labor had tried to “throw mud at our election commitment for a Territory Coordinator”.

Her department was currently doing “targeted consultation with a range of groups, including the land councils, local government, Environment Protection Authority, Controller of Water Resources and the Heritage Council”.

She said feedback would “help shape the final legislation” before its introduction to parliament “in future sittings and, at that time, all members and the community will be able to have their say”.

The Territory Coordinator would “not only fix log jams in processes but also ensure we are competitive on the global stage when attracting investment”.