A controversial bill granting the Queensland government significantly expanded compulsory acquisition powers has passed state parliament.
The new law allows for projects to be declared "state strategic" by the government, meaning projects can be streamlined through a suite of new powers granted to the coordinator-general.
The State Development and Public Works Organisation (Critical Minerals) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill (2026) is touted by the government as essential for the state to capitalise on the critical-minerals boom.
Critics of the bill, which passed through parliament on Wednesday night, said it put too much power in the hands of the planning minister and eroded fundamental legal safeguards.
Significantly, the bill allows for the government to acquire land for private projects for the first time.
The bill also weakens appeal rights and allows for other legislation to be edited through new "modification orders".
The Crisafulli government said the powers would not automatically allow a project's approval or remove existing environmental, planning, resources, or other approval requirements.
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said the bill was aimed at securing investment in critical minerals.
"This legislation gives us the tools to attract investment, create jobs and build new industries," he said.
"There's billions of dollars on the table."
Critical minerals are materials the state government describes as being crucial for modern economies and are at risk of supply chain disruption.
Deposits in Queensland include vanadium and cobalt for batteries, and copper for electrical, renewable and digital infrastructure.
Late amendments
Queensland's agriculture industry was a vocal critic of the bill, airing concerns that prime agricultural land would be taken for mining, renewable energy and tourism projects.
The day the bill passed, amendments were added that excluded renewable energy projects and data centres from being declared state strategic.
Amendments were also made to ensure a Regional Interests Development Approval (RIDA) was still required.
A RIDA is a separate legislation used to protect areas of special economic interest, including agricultural land.
AgForce Queensland president Shane McCarthy said he negotiated with the government right up until the last minute.
"They have taken on some of our recommendations … we would have preferred it to go a little bit further, but you never get [all of what you] asked for," he said.
"It's great to see a government that actually listens and takes on board what their regional constituents are saying."
Queensland Farmers Federation CEO Kylie Porter said she believed the legislation was aimed at achieving balance.
"Legislation is one piece, but we also now need to make sure that our proponents of critical minerals are really acting in a way that's very appropriate for the interests of our agriculture community," she said.
'No meaningful safeguards'
Environmental Defenders Office Queensland managing lawyer Andrew Kwan said the late amendments failed to address the bill's central flaws.
"These amendments add no meaningful safeguards, tighter eligibility criteria or greater transparency and accountability around the use of these extraordinary powers," Mr Kwan said.
"In the face of climate change and continued environmental decline in Queensland, major projects must face robust assessment and public scrutiny, not unjustified fast-tracking or weakened legal protections."
Critics said that while critical minerals were important, nothing in the bill restricted the powers to govern just critical-mineral projects.
In July, Mr Bleijie used the $140 million Whitsunday Skyway cable-car project between Airlie Beach and Conway National Park as an example of a project that could be expedited under the law.
Pascale Whyte lives near the proposed cable-car base station site and is disappointed the law has passed.
"What this bill does is flip the basic Queensland principle of a fair go on its head," she said.
"It gives a commercial tourism project, complete with a luge track, the same fast-track powers as a critical mine, and it strips away the safeguards that let everyday residents be heard."
"That's not streamlining, that's overriding our community's rights."
The Skyway project has not been declared a state strategic project.
Conservation groups protested across the state last week, calling the new legislation an overreach that put the environment and land rights at risk.
