On Wednesday 26 August I moved amendments to the Government's State Development and Public Works Organisation (Critical Minerals) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 which would rename it to the Grabbing Land and Trashing Process Bill. You can read my full speech on these amendments, and why I thought the name was more accurate, below, or in the official parliamentary record of proceedings (Hansard).
I move amendment No. 1 circulated in my name—
1 Clause 1 (Short title)
Page 14, line 5, ‘Critical Minerals’—
omit, insert—
Grabbing Land and Trashing Process
I table the explanatory notes to my amendments.
Tabled paper: State Development and Public Works Organisation (Critical Minerals) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026, explanatory notes to Mr Michael Berkman’s amendments.
With two minutes left in the debate and not having had an opportunity to speak on the second reading debate, I am now moving amendments to the short title so that this act is called what it actually is. It would be referred to as the State Development and Public Works Organisation (Grabbing Land and Trashing Process) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill. It should be clear to every member in this House that this bill has very little, if anything, to do with critical minerals. It is certainly not about leading a renewable energy revolution or driving down emissions and electricity prices. This government’s title is misleading and deceptive in the extreme.
This bill is a transparent power grab by the LNP on behalf of their vested interests and major donors and specifically by the Deputy Premier who, as Minister for State Development, stands to grant himself absolutely extraordinary powers through the passage of this bill. This Trump wannabe is desperate for his own version of executive orders, although I would say that he has gone a bit further even than Trump by giving himself the power to simply override existing laws for his favoured pet projects.
Mr BLEIJIE: Mr Speaker, I rise to a point of order. I take personal offence and I ask the member to withdraw.
Mr SPEAKER: The member takes personal offence and I ask that you withdraw.
Mr BERKMAN: I withdraw. Perhaps he is just harking back to a bygone era closer to home. Maybe he has aspirations to bring in the bulldozers overnight and tear down our built and natural heritage and hand over land to his favourite developers without the pesky public interfering. He is looking more and more like Joh 2.0, as this government does from one year to the next. The LNP talks about efficiency and supposedly slashing duplicative processes—
Mr BLEIJIE: Mr Speaker, I rise to a point of order. I take personal offence and I ask the member to withdraw.
Mr SPEAKER: Member for Maiwar, I will ask you to withdraw.
Mr BERKMAN: I withdraw.
Mr SPEAKER: Member for Maiwar, it is now 10.15. The time has expired. The next question is that the member for Maiwar’s amendment No. 1 be agreed to.