Approvals become a balance-sheet asset as EPBC hurdles climb • earthtrade

Approvals were adding value to land developers balance sheets, Brisbane-based biodiversity consultancy earthtrade said.

earthtrade director Thomas Key was commenting on the difficulty of clearing regulatory hurdles, in particular the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Development approvals sat at various stages across the Queensland minerals, coal and gas industries, Mr Key said.

The best example was the rush on gold tenements with legacy approvals made over the past couple of years, he said.

“We might see all this regulatory work completed in 2011, 2012 when the last gold push was on. They’re taking advantage of that now because they’re just going back and saying, ‘we’ve already got our approvals.’

“There’s some of that’s happening in the coal sector. It’s in the gas sector as well. We’ve got quite a lot of gas approvals that are older, EPBC-wise, they’re 2007, 2008. They’re only getting developed now.

“They’re able to progress under that older legislation, the projects going forward. The fact of the matter is I think you’ve got to plan on that. This only going to get harder and more complex and more data intensive and more expensive, to be frank.”

Changes made last year to the EPBC Act were meant to streamline approvals by aligning federal and state legislation.

The priority for proponents was to get the ecology right, which was easier said than done, particularly in larger businesses, Mr Key said.

“The issue we run into is that planning isn’t talking to finance, isn’t talking to legal, isn’t talking to operations. You have to be sure the environmental team run through their plan. Everything’s perfectly dotted out. We hit the timeline. It is great.

“And then we’re trying to have the same negotiations on a different level with finance, operations and legal. Their responsibilities and restrictions and decision making powers are different to the environment team.

“But the environment team still has to get the EPBC approval done and it makes it difficult when other arms of the business are not working together.”

The Queensland Productivity Commission will hand down its final report on the federal EPBC reforms to the Queensland Government by 13 April 2027.

Proponents wanting to protect the value of an approval can talk to earthtrade for a commercial assessment before they commit. Call the earthtrade office on 1300 036 401.