Community members have rallied in front of NSW Parliament today, raising the alarm over the Minns Government’s attempt to overhaul planning laws, amid concerns the legislation would increase corruption risk and make it easier for big fossil fuel projects to bypass environmental safeguards.
Photos and videos from this morning’s rally are available here.
Despite a lack of community consultation over what has been called the biggest shake up of NSW Planning laws in more than 40 years, the Minns Government is expected to introduce The Environmental Planning and Assessment (Planning System Reform) Bill 2025 from today.
At this morning’s rally, community groups and some cross bench MPs called on the Minns Government to urgently refer the proposed legislation to a Parliamentary Inquiry.
Lock the Gate Alliance NSW Coordinator and rally organiser Nic Clyde said, “We’ve rallied today to draw attention to the serious failings of this legislation, and the widespread negative impacts it could have on communities right throughout NSW if passed in its current form.
“If these laws pass, they will make it easier for big, polluting fossil fuel projects to sail through assessments without the necessary environmental safeguards.
“People in NSW don’t want the government writing a blank cheque to fossil fuel polluters to destroy water and habitat and fuel the climate crisis that is already causing so much havoc and destruction in this state, yet that’s exactly what this bill does.”
Sydney Deputy Mayor Jess Miller said, “The changes the NSW Government is making to the Environmental Protection Act obliterates councils' and communities’ ability to have any say about the future of places they love - it concentrates power into the hands of the minister and senior bureaucrats, removing accountability, transparency and oversight. It’s a developers’ dream.”
Nic Seton, CEO Parents for Climate "As parents, we’re asking MPs to fix a bill that fast-tracks pollution by banning climate, environmental and social checks, because our children’s safety must come before politics.”
ENDS