The Tasmanian Parliament has today passed laws that will reduce red tape and ensure competitive strengths like agriculture can continue to grow and create jobs.
The Upper House showed strong support for the Water Management Amendment (Dam Works) Bill 2015, which includes a range of measures to simplify and streamline the dam works approval process.
The construction of dams together with irrigation infrastructure is critical to ensuring Tasmanian farmers have reliable water supply and in turn the confidence to invest.
Farmers had long been concerned about the previous approval process for dam works, suggesting it was too complex and a barrier to development and investment.
This new Bill now ensures farmers have a more efficient way of obtaining a dam works permit, improving certainty and reducing costs.
This will result in significant time and financial savings for farmers. For example, farmers seeking permits for low risk dams will save about $800 in application fees and this simplified process represents a red tape reduction of 25 per cent of all permits.
This Government has an agenda to reduce the red tape, and we’re getting on with the job of doing just that. This will give Tasmanian farmers greater confidence to invest, which will help keep the economic momentum going and create jobs.
Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Primary Industries and Water
