The Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) says today's announcement to fast-track a mega coal and gas project in Central Queensland proves the Crisafulli Government is following the Federal Coalition down a path paved by the fossil fuel industry at the expense of Queensland communities and nature.

The Centurion North Development Project has been designated a 'coordinated project', granting it 'streamlined' assessment outside of the normal environmental laws including Coordinator-General discretion. QCC says this special treatment benefits the shareholders of fossil fuel corporations while leaving Queenslanders to shoulder the climate, nature, and cost-of-living consequences.

The project would mine up to 7.1 million tonnes of coal and extract up to 10 petajoules of coal seam gas every year until 2055, despite 80 countries signing onto a roadmap to end fossil fuel dependence last week at COP30 because of their driving role in the climate crisis.

In the time it takes Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt to address the Queensland Media Club today, an estimated 75 hectares of forest and woodlands will be bulldozed in Queensland, according to Queensland Conservation Council.

The State's peak conservation body says the overhaul of Australia's nature laws must address Queensland's deforestation and extinction crises.

Currently, Queensland has the most threatened species in Australia and is a global deforestation hotspot, with an estimated 1 million hectares bulldozed in Queensland since the Albanese Government took office.

The Queensland Conservation Council is calling on Minister Murray Watt to work with the crossbench to strengthen his laws to address the deforestation crisis, saying the Federal Coalition has demonstrated in recent weeks they can’t be trusted to prioritise the environment.

The Cairns and Far North Environment Centre (CAFNEC) and the Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) warn that the Crisafulli Government's newly released Far North Queensland Regional Plan fails to confront the region's escalating climate risks and condemns a community already on the frontlines of climate impacts to an even more disaster-prone future.

At an industry briefing in Cairns last week, the Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, Minister Jarrod Bleijie, spoke with crude candour about the Crisafulli Government's 25-year vision for the far north.

The draft plan contains no references to 'climate change', a stark contrast to the 2009 plan, which mentioned climate change 137 times in its 188 pages.

Public consultation runs to 5 January 2026, but the window has been cut to 30 business days and squeezed into the Christmas and New Year period, down from 60 days.

The Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) is concerned that a review of the GST is a veiled attempt to help the coal industry avoid paying royalties.

The Queensland Productivity Commission (QPC) announced the review today after months of relentless campaigning from the coal industry against Queensland's coal royalty scheme - a scheme which the Crisafulli Government committed to maintaining ahead of their election in 2024.

QCC says coal royalties are a fair, bare minimum to ensure Queenslanders get a share of the industry's super profits, and that the campaign against the scheme is a smokescreen for their own poor business decisions and a failure to accept the climate reality.

At least 19 green turtles have washed up along beaches from Deception Bay across Redcliffe Peninsula and down to Sandgate since October, and dozens of young green turtles and even a deceased dugong on Bribie Island and surrounds in recent weeks.

The Queensland Conservation Council says that these strandings are very concerning and need to be urgently investigated. Climate change is the biggest threat facing marine species, and their decline is sending us a loud message about what's happening in our oceans.

QCC urges the federal government to deliver strong new federal nature laws including national environmental standards that protect threatened species like green turtles, listed as vulnerable under the federal nature law.

Environmental groups, unions, and energy industry groups have raised significant concerns about the Crisafulli Government's Bill to repeal Queensland’s renewable energy targets and allow the privatisation of Queensland’s energy generation.

The majority of organisational submissions on the Energy Roadmap Amendment Bill 2025 flag major concerns, including that the Queensland Government’s decision to axe renewable energy targets and keep coal running without planned closure dates will lead to major price and pollution rises.

In their submission, Nexa Advisory argues keeping Queenslanders reliant on unreliable coal will increase wholesale electricity costs by 21% - or $115.7 billion - compared to a planned, orderly transition. Meanwhile the Electrical Trades Union highlights that it will likely cost $3.3 billion to refurbish state-owned coal power stations to keep them running – much more than the Crisafulli Government has allocated so far.

According to the Queensland Conservation Council, the State Government needs to listen to the feedback received from the majority of stakeholders on this Bill and take it back to the drawing board.

The EPBC amendments introduced into Parliament must be strengthened to address habitat loss, the greatest threat to endangered species, says the Queensland Conservation Council.

Queensland has the most threatened species in Australia, and our state is overwhelmingly in first place when it comes to rates of deforestation, with an estimated 1 million hectares of forest and woodland bulldozed in Queensland since the Albanese government took office.

Read the report, Gemini Mine Threatened Species Detection (PDF 3.4mb)

Three endangered greater gliders at the site of a controversial coal mine in central Queensland were found by citizen scientists working with the Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) and assisted by Ghungalu Traditional Owners.

The Gemini coal project is currently under investigation by Federal government officials for illegally clearing bushland without approval under the EPBC Act, but QCC says the new evidence should prompt Environment Minister Murray Watt to use his powers to stop the clearing and properly assess the coal mine under federal environment law.

Documents obtained under FOI (PDF 7.4mb) show the federal environment department wrote to the proponent of the Gemini coal mine in 2022 recommending the project be referred for assessment under national environment laws. Instead of making the company refer the project so a proper environmental assessment can be done, the coal company has ignored the department's recommendation and begun clearing for the coal mine.

The peak body reported alleged unlawful clearing at the site to Minister Watt in July. His Department has said they don't have the power to stop the clearing, but the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) says there are powers in the EPBC Act that the Minister appears not yet to have used.

The Queensland Conservation Council has condemned the Deputy Premier’s decision to call in Coast Entertainment Operations Limited's development application to expand Dreamworld at Coomera, describing the move as a deeply troubling misuse of Ministerial powers that will have catastrophic consequences for endangered koalas and other threatened species.

The Deputy Premier has today announced his decision to call in the development, which will sideline the regular assessment process, leaving the final decision with the Deputy Premier.

The Queensland Conservation Council is calling for the Dreamworld expansion to be referred under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act (PDF 422k) for independent federal assessment, and for the State Government to release all documentation underpinning the call-in decision.

One year after taking office, Premier David Crisafulli's government is failing to deliver on climate commitments, according to a new report card released today by the Queensland Conservation Council.

The independent assessment finds that the government has undermined Queensland's climate ambition, released an Energy Roadmap that locks in coal and expands gas, and has made progress on their election promises for nature but failed to take meaningful action to halt biodiversity loss.