A new bill before Queensland Parliament would let the state compulsorily acquire private land to help deliver projects of state significance. Owners keep their right to compensation, but the usual avenues to contest the underlying decision on its merits would be narrowed.
Queensland is moving to expand the state’s power to compulsorily acquire private land for major projects, under a bill now before Parliament. If passed, the changes would make compulsory acquisition available as a tool to help deliver projects the government designates as strategically significant, with the decision sitting with the Governor in Council. Affected owners would retain the right to compensation and the right to take a matter to the Land Court, but the broader avenues to challenge the underlying project decision on its merits would be narrowed.
The reforms sit inside the State Development and Public Works Organisation (Critical Minerals) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026, introduced on 2 June 2026 by Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jarrod Bleijie. The headline purpose of the bill is to fast-track critical minerals and other major developments. But the land powers it contains reach further than mining, and they are worth understanding for any builder, developer or landowner whose work touches a site the state considers important.
Here is what is actually changing, and why it matters.
What the bill actually changes
At the centre of the bill is a new category of development called a State Strategic Project, or SSP. This replaces the existing “critical infrastructure project” designation. Projects are declared SSPs by the Minister, and the designation unlocks a suite of powers that ordinary projects do not have access to.
Those powers include ministerial involvement in approval decisions, the ability to modify how other state laws apply to a project, expanded land access arrangements, strategic infrastructure easements, and, in certain circumstances, compulsory acquisition.
On the land side, the bill replaces the old reference to a “private infrastructure facility” as a purpose for which land may be taken, and substitutes State Strategic Projects. In plain terms, compulsory acquisition becomes available to help deliver this new top tier of projects, subject to approval by the Governor in Council.
It is a meaningful shift. Compulsory acquisition in Queensland has long existed for public works such as roads, rail and water infrastructure. What is new here is the framing: land can be taken to facilitate projects of strategic importance, a broader and more flexible category than the traditional public-works purposes.
Do owners really have “no right of appeal”?
This is the part worth getting precise, because the headline version of this story is only half right.
The bill does narrow appeal rights, but it does not remove them entirely. For decisions covered by the new framework, the explanatory material is clear that certain decisions will generally not be open to third-party merits review or appeal to the Planning and Environment Court. Where the Minister steps in to decide a planning application directly, that decision is final and not subject to merits review or appeal.
What survives is judicial review. Affected people keep the right to seek judicial review under the Judicial Review Act 1991, and to seek relief through the Supreme Court’s inherent jurisdiction. The distinction matters. A merits review asks whether a decision was the right call. Judicial review asks whether the decision was made lawfully and properly, not whether it was the best outcome. The first is a much wider door than the second.
A merits review asks whether a decision was the right call. Judicial review asks only whether it was made lawfully.
On acquisition specifically, the existing safeguards largely remain. The bill keeps the requirements for prior negotiation, a final unconditional offer, and compensation. Owners also retain access to the Land Court. So an owner is not stripped of every protection. What they lose is the ability to argue the merits of the project decision itself through the usual planning appeal channels.
For a landowner facing acquisition, that is a real reduction in leverage. The avenue to say “this project should not proceed here” is narrower. The avenue to argue about lawfulness and to claim fair compensation stays open.
Land access before acquisition: the “enabling works” power
Acquisition is the heaviest tool, but the bill also expands lighter-touch land access powers that are more likely to affect builders day to day.
A new access authority regime replaces existing investigation powers. Proponents of prescribed projects can seek access to land for investigation. Proponents of State Strategic Projects can go a step further and seek authority to carry out limited enabling works where access cannot be secured by agreement.
The bill frames enabling works as a last resort. Before access is granted, both the Coordinator-General and the Governor in Council must be satisfied that the works are necessary, that reasonable efforts have been made to negotiate, and that the works are minor, temporary and will not unreasonably interfere with the owner’s use of the land. Notice requirements, compensation entitlements and access to the Land Court remain part of the regime.
The practical reading is that the state wants a path forward when a single holdout can stall a project, without resorting straight to acquisition. Whether that path stays “minor and temporary” in practice is the kind of thing the construction and property sector will watch closely.
Why this matters for builders
It is easy to file this under “mining policy” and move on. That would be a mistake. Three things make it relevant to the residential and commercial building sector.
First, the powers are not limited to mines. State Strategic Projects can capture any development the government considers critical to the state’s economic, environmental or social objectives. The same toolkit that fast-tracks a processing facility can, in principle, apply to other major projects.
Second, faster project delivery cuts both ways. For proponents and the builders working for them, a more coordinated approvals pathway and stronger ability to overcome land access barriers can mean fewer stalls and clearer timelines. For landowners and smaller operators near a significant project, it means the state has a bigger say in what happens around them.
Third, this is part of a pattern. Queensland has spent 2026 building out a more interventionist approach to unlocking land and accelerating delivery, from the Land Activation Program releasing surplus government sites, to priority development declarations on the Gold Coast and elsewhere. The compulsory acquisition reforms are the harder-edged end of the same strategy: the government wants levers to move land when it decides a project matters.
For builders, the takeaway is not alarm. It is awareness. If you are working on or near a site that could attract a State Strategic Project designation, the rules of engagement around land are shifting. Knowing where the appeal door is open, and where it has narrowed, is part of managing that risk.
What happens next
The bill has been referred to the Primary Industries and Resources Committee for detailed consideration, with consultation, submissions and a reporting date in early August 2026. That committee stage is where the detail gets tested, and where industry bodies, landowners and legal groups will make their case on the scope of the acquisition and enabling-works powers.
On commencement, existing critical infrastructure project declarations would automatically transition to State Strategic Project status, immediately enabling the new powers for those projects. This connects to the broader critical minerals push the government has been promoting, but the framework itself is general-purpose. How widely it is used, and on what kinds of projects, will only become clear once the law is in force.
For now, the signal from the state is consistent with everything else it has done this year: it intends to clear the path for projects it considers important, and it is prepared to reshape the rules around land to do it.
The Good Builder Take
“No right of appeal” is a sharper line than the bill actually draws. The accurate version is narrower but still significant: merits review and Planning and Environment Court appeals are being limited for top-tier projects, while judicial review, Land Court access and compensation rights remain.
That distinction is the whole story. Owners keep the ability to challenge how a decision was made and to claim fair value. What they lose is the easier path to argue that a project simply should not proceed where it is planned.
For builders, this is a watch-this-space moment rather than a red alert. The powers are broad enough to reach beyond mining, the committee stage will shape the final detail, and the trend line is clear: in 2026, Queensland is choosing speed and state control over the slower, more contestable status quo. Worth tracking, not panicking over.
Your Questions Answered:
Can the Queensland government take private land for major projects?
Yes. Under the State Development and Public Works Organisation (Critical Minerals) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026, compulsory acquisition would be available to help deliver projects declared as State Strategic Projects, subject to approval by the Governor in Council.
Do landowners lose the right to appeal under the new Queensland bill?
Merits review and appeals to the Planning and Environment Court are limited for top-tier project decisions. Judicial review under the Judicial Review Act 1991 and access to the Land Court for compensation remain available.
What is a State Strategic Project in Queensland?
It is a new top-tier development category that replaces the “critical infrastructure project” designation. The Minister declares projects as State Strategic Projects, which unlocks fast-tracking and land powers.
What are enabling works under the bill?
Enabling works are limited works a State Strategic Project proponent can seek authority to carry out where land access cannot be secured by agreement. They must be minor, temporary and not unreasonably interfere with the owner’s use, with compensation and Land Court access preserved.
When does the Queensland land acquisition bill take effect?
The bill was introduced on 2 June 2026 and referred to a parliamentary committee, with a reporting date in early August 2026. It is not yet law.
This article is general information for the building and construction industry and is not legal advice. Landowners affected by acquisition or land access decisions should seek independent legal advice on their specific circumstances. Last updated 16 June 2026.
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