QLD’s Mandate for Change and the Path to Middle Earth

There has been some news this week in the insular world of Queensland politics; some new developments emerging as the new LNP government takes the reigns. Campbell Newman, as part of his first press conference as Premier of Queensland, has announced changes to six of his major state departments.

On Monday, in Premier Newman’s first press conference as our state’s leader, he announced the reshuffle of numerous state departments. For the most part, this was the standard reshuffle, replacing the old Labour-sympathetic government heads-of-department with new, LNP-aligned ministers.

One of these changes, however, has piqued the interest of some observers. Announced on Monday, as part of Campbell Newman’s “mandate for change”, was the institution of Andrew Chesterman as the new Director-General of the Department of Environment and Resource Management.

On its own, this is unremarkable news. In his statement, however, Premier Newman also announced the plan to dismantle the Department of Environment and Resource Management and reassign some of the major duties of the department in order to expedite environmental impact studies and their impact on mining applications.

"DERM (Department of Environment, Resource Management) could be split up, but we would create a department with a stronger focus on environment." Mr Newman said. "Changes would also be made to DEEDI (Department of Environment, Economic Development and Innovation) to create a mining and energy department.”

Elaborating upon this news, regarding both departments, Mr Newman added, "It would promote mining and exploration in Queensland… It should not take seven years to decide environmental outcomes."

This comes as unwelcome news to many Queensland residents who have taken this move as a sign of further environmental upheaval. The government’s installation of Andrew Chesterman would appear, on the surface, to be an acknowledgement of the importance of sustainable environmental practices, as Mr Chesterman’s previous roles included the position of Divisional Manager for City Planning and Sustainability and serving as a member of the Executive Management Team for Mr Newman’s Brisbane City Council cabinet. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Environmental Assessment and Land Use Policy) and his roles within the BCC have both involved environmental assessments and planning the responsible use of land.

However, there is still some dispute as to whether Mr Chesterman can effectively protect the environment in light of the LNP’s “mandate for change” and the veracity with which they are approaching the mining issue. There has been, and will likely continue to be, dispute about the government’s priorities where environmental protection is concerned. Added to this is the knowledge that, despite his impressive credentials, Mr Chesterman was part of the committee that approved the massive construction projects around Queensland and allowed some of our city’s waterways and low-lying areas to become little more than filthy water traps and punji pits. It remains to be seen how Mr Chesterman handles DERM in his first weeks, and, indeed, how he’ll handle the disbanding and reappropriation of the department and its duties.

"We do have a mandate for change, a mandate for the policies we put out there prior to the election," said Mr Newman on Monday.

This stance on public works and civil planning has the potential to create some amazing reforms regarding the provision of infrastructure and the expansion of mining business in central Queensland. Unfortunately, the same elements of this story that could provide so much benefit to so many people have the potential to turn large parts of the state into ecologically unsound disaster zones. While it may not prove to be such a bad idea to separate the department’s duties to aid in timely and appropriate responses to mining applications and environmental impact studies, there is also a chance that de-regulation of mining in Queensland could open the proverbial flood gates and allow mining corporations to turn large parts of the state into flaming pits from Hell; or large-scale portals into the horrifying depths of Mordor. And with such an overwhelming government majority, there would ultimately be very little anyone on the outside could do to prevent it.

So, with that said, I’m personally curious to see how long it takes before public opinion swings towards the feeling of Buyer’s Remorse. I give it a month.

For further information on the latest departmental reshuffle, a statement released by the Liberal National Party government can be found here.

Karl Anderson