In the media – National
Australian farmers to benefit from direct action on
their land
A new methodology for 'Native Forest from Managed
Regrowth' allows farmers and land managers who have
historically cleared their land for pastoral use to earn carbon
credits by managing regrowth to regenerate native forests (12
November 2013).
More...
Energy Efficiency Certificate Creators Association
(EECCA) established
Australia's energy efficiency markets will be strengthened
with the announcement today of the establishment of a new,
independent body to represent businesses that create and trade in
energy efficiency certificates (12 November 2013). More...
National Licensing Lessons Must Be Heeded
The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) says it's not
surprised that the COAG Reform Council's (CRC) report, Lessons
for Federal Reform illustrates that 15 out of 32 key performance
indicators show little, no or negative progress (12 November 2013).
More...
Abbott introduces carbon tax repeal bill
The government has begun the process of abolishing the carbon tax,
introducing laws to parliament to unwind Labor's clean energy
laws. Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Wednesday introduced a bill to
repeal the impost, marking his government's first major piece
of legislation (14 November 2013). More...
Australian climate tax and fees off table
Federal cabinet has ruled that Australia will not sign up to any
new contributions, taxes or charges at this week's climate
change summit. This come as part of a significant toughening of its
stance as it plans to move within days to repeal the carbon tax (11
November 2013).
More...
PCA: Government turns a blind eye to housing
affordability
The PCA claims that far from being 'past its use-by date'
the National Housing Supply Council is the government's only
insight into Australia's housing affordability and undersupply
problems (08 November 2013).
More...
ASIC warns real estate industry about
spruiking
The corporate regulator has warned real estate agents to adhere to
the licensing requirements for self-managed super fund (SMSF)
property investment advice. ASIC announced it is working with the
REIA to ensure real estate agents understand their legal
obligations when dealing with SMSFs (07 November 2013).
More...
In the media – New South Wales
State planning reforms to kick start NSW
economy
The Planning Bill 2013, tabled in NSW Parliament on 29 October by
the Planning and Infrastructure Minister, represents the biggest
overhaul of the planning system in 33 years The reforms will
increase the output of the NSW economy by up to $3 billion a year
over the next 30 years, according to the review by the Centre for
International Economics (CIE) released today (22 October 2013).
More...
In the media – New South Wales
Urban Taskforce: strata Act changes will support growth
in apartments
Proposed changes to the NSW Strata Act will give greater
confidence to the development industry and to owners corporations.
The proposal to require an independent expert assessment of the
condition of a building a year after completion will give all
parties an impartial umpire who will assess defects and monitor
rectification (14 November 2013).
More...
New planning system laws to boost
communities
New planning laws in NSW set upfront rules for fast-tracked
approval of townhouses, retail and office projects. Legislation for
the new planning system has passed the Legislative Assembly in the
NSW Parliament and is due to be debated in the Legislative Council
in November (08 November 2013).
More...
In the media – Queensland
Queensland state planning's one-stop-shop
awarded
The PIA has awarded Queensland's State Assessment and Referral
Agency (SARA) with the 2013 Improving Planning Processes and
Practices Award. SARA, launched on July 1, 2013, was created to
centralize state referrals and to streamline development
application assessments in a 'one-stop-shop' approach (12
November 2013).
More...
Mineral assessment hub for resource
sector
The State Government has launched, from this week, a new
Townsville Minerals Assessment Hub would process all mineral
exploration permits for Queensland, and would soon manage all
mineral development applications across the state (09 November
2013).
More...
Benchmarks for Queensland Planning Schemes released by
the PCA
The Property Council has released its latest research,
Property Interests: Benchmarks for Queensland Planning Schemes.
This covers retail, industrial, commercial and residential land
uses, Property Interests encourages local governments to take a
step back, and make sure the strategic intent of their planning
scheme is being reflected in the detail of the document (07
November 2013).
More...
Qld to offer coal incentives
The Newman government will announce incentives for coal mines in
the remote Galilee Basin using a ramp-up royalty period for miners.
As a raft of changes including a faster planning and land
acquisition process as well as the discounted royalties will be
offered to aid development of the basin, 500km from the Queensland
coast (07 November 2013).
More...
In practice and courts – National
2020 Vision
A new national initiative, aiming to increase green spaces in our
cities by 20% by 2020 was launched last week. The 2020 Vision is a
unique collaboration between government, academic and
private-sectors, aiming to increase urban green spaces, thus
improving our environment, productivity and societal benefits (12
November 2013).
More... More....
In practice and courts – Victoria
Current consultations
EPA: Draft guideline on applying environment protection principles EPA is seeking comments by 15 November 2013 on its draft guideline on the application of the environment protection principles to EPA's approvals process. It is intended to help project proponents understand how EPA expects them to consider the principles when developing proposals and preparing applications for an EPA approval. More... More...
Plan Melbourne Discussion and Feedback
Victorians are encouraged to contribute feedback on the blueprint
for the city's future, in the next important milestone for Plan
Melbourne discussions. The plan is open for comment until Friday 6
December 2013.
More...
In practice and courts – Queensland
Announcements, Draft Policies and Plans released 2013
Galilee Basin Development Strategy November
2013
The Galilee Basin Development Strategy outlines streamlined
solutions for water, power and rail and comprehensive
infrastructure planning for this important region (06 November
2013). More...
Cases – Victoria
South Yarra Colonnade Pty Ltd v Designbuilt Industries Pty Ltd (Retail Tenancies) [2013] VCAT 1872 Retail tenancies – monthly tenancy – rental paid monthly in advance – re-entry on second day of month – whether Landlord entitled to rental for whole month - apportionment of rental due – interest payable under lease not limited by power to award interest conferred by s.91(2) Retail Lease Act 2003. More...
Ashdon Valley Pty Ltd v Hicks & Anor [2013] VSC 597 APPEAL – Appeal from Magistrates' Court on questions of law – Sale of land providing for the transfer of water entitlements – whether magistrate misconstrued the Water Act 1989 (Vic) – whether the magistrate failed to consider the issue of causation raised by the appellant – whether the reasons for decision were adequate – reasons for decision do not disclose the magistrate's path of reasoning – Appeal allowed – Magistrates' Court Act 1989 (Vic) s 109 – Water Act 1989 (Vic) ss 33E, 33F, 33G, 33S, 33U, 33W, 64J, 64S. More...
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CU LAB: Developers and the NSW building defects regime
