CLP clears the path for jobs and investment

3 September 2025

The Finocchiaro CLP Government has today in Parliament passed the Lands, Planning and Environment Legislation Amendment Bill 2025.

The amendments to the Lands, Planning and Environment Legislation will uphold important regulatory functions while simplifying regulatory processes and removing red tape that can impede economic growth.

Measures being taking to improve administrative efficiency are:

• Fast-tracking approvals for low-risk projects.
• Modernise processes to allow the use of email and website as the method for publishing a notice or providing a notice.
• Expediting processes for minor technical amendments to a water license and environment protection approvals or licences.
• Removing the duplication of processes; and
• Promoting certainty in decision making by addressing legislative inconsistencies and clarifying ambiguity.

Minister for Lands, Planning and Environment, Joshua Burgoyne, said  the CLP government supports economic growth through initiatives that establish certainty for stake holders in the Territory.

“Unlike Labor, who buried business in bureaucracy, we are making the Territory an attractive, investment-ready destination.”

“Industry has told us loud and clear: Labor’s red tape and process blowouts were killing business confidence and driving investment away,” Mr Burgoyne said.

State Manager for Queensland and Northern Territory Planning Institute of Australia, Nicole Bennetts RPIA welcomed the governments reforms.

“These planning reforms are welcomed by the NT planning profession as a step towards a more streamlined, performance-based planning system," she said.

“As called for in our Approvals Taskforce submission in May 2025, fast-tracking low-risk approvals allows resources to be focused where they matter most – on complex proposals requiring robust scrutiny.

“An efficient and effective planning system benefits communities, industry and government alike.”

This Bill achieves straightforward and practical measures to reduce red-tape, promote regulatory certainty and modernise processes across 11 Acts and subordinate legislation.

It does not contain significant policy changes or lessen the protections established under the various lands, planning and environmental legislation.

“We promised Territorians a year of action, certainty and security, and this Bill delivers on that promise,” Mr Burgoyne said.

Media contact – Zac Webster - 0418 670 192