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Infrastructure facilities of significance
An infrastructure facility of significance (IFS) is a facility assessed by the Coordinator-General and approved by the Governor in Council as being of significance economically or socially to Australia, Queensland or the region in which the facility is to be constructed.
Under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 (SDPWO Act), the sorts of infrastructure facilities that may qualify for consideration as an IFS include (but are not limited to):
- a road, railway, bridge or other transport facility
- electricity generation, transmission or distribution facilities
- oil or gas storage, distribution or transmission of facilities.
IFS approvals may be given to private or public sector infrastructure facilities.
Land acquisition
If an infrastructure facility is approved as an IFS, the proponent must consult and negotiate with landowners and/or native title holders to:
- acquire the land needed for the facility by agreement on commercial terms
- enter into an indigenous land use agreement (where native title exists).
Taking of land
If these negotiations are unsuccessful, the proponent may - as a last resort - apply to the Coordinator-General to compulsorily acquire (or take) the land in question.
Before any application to take the land is considered, the proponent must provide evidence to the Coordinator-General that reasonable steps were taken to secure the land by agreement.
Land is compulsorily acquired under the processes set out in the:
Landowners and native title holders have the right to object to any proposed compulsory acquisition of their land or native title rights/interests.
