00:00Tasmanian councils assess thousands of development applications each year.
00:07The vast majority are signed off by local government staff,
00:11with only about 10% determined by elected councillors.
00:15But the state government says the system is too politicised.
00:19We've had housing developments knocked back
00:23because of planning matters at a local government level.
00:28The government wants to implement an alternative application process
00:32known as Development Assessment Panels, or DAPs,
00:35which would allow applicants to bypass councils
00:38if their project involves social or affordable housing,
00:42is valued at more than $10 million,
00:45or if the planning minister decides that the project
00:48is significant to the local area, is overly complex,
00:51is likely to be controversial,
00:53or if the council is deemed to have a perceived bias.
00:57The minister says he wants to take the politics out of planning
01:00and yet he's making himself the king of the planning system
01:04with no checks and balances.
01:06These are laws that really are not needed.
01:09The system is working well.
01:11The Development Assessment Panels would be appointed
01:14by the Independent Planning Commission,
01:16and once a final decision on a project is made,
01:19there'd be no right of appeal on planning grounds.
01:23This is the Wild West on steroids.
01:25This is not a good planning outcome for our state.
01:28This is ham-fisted and it's ill-advised
01:30and all fair-minded Tasmanians ought to be deeply troubled by it.
01:34I'm not interested in mayors that have self-interest, of course,
01:39and are grandstanding.
01:42What I'm interested in is putting roofs over people's heads.
01:45The government plans to table its draft bill in parliament this month.
01:55.
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