From 1 July 2017, the Farm Business Debt Mediation Act 2017 (Qld) will require mortgagees to offer to engage in mediation with mortgagor farmers before commencing any enforcement action to recover outstanding farm business debts.
The Queensland Government recently announced that it will release a further 395 square kilometres of land in the Surat Basin region of southwest Queensland for further gas development.
This alert will be relevant to all landowners, developers and utility operators who carry out development in Queensland. The Queensland Government recently released an Issues Paper proposing key changes to the existing Cultural Heritage Duty of Care Guidelines under the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld) (the Act). The Government is inviting submissions that must be made by 1 June 2017.
On 20 October 2015 the Queensland Court of Appeal awarded an ex-daughter-in-law a sum equivalent to 17.5% of the net value of a rural property owned by her former husband’s parents and a family farming enterprise owned by a trust controlled by the parents and ex-husband.
From 1 July 2016, the Queensland Government has extended the duty exemption for transfers of assets used in a primary production property.
Officers, financiers, shareholders and other related persons can now be personally liable for company breaches under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld).
Environmental offsets are embedded in Commonwealth and State legislation and policy frameworks, and are designed to ‘counterbalance’ the environmental impacts of property and resources developments.
The GasFields Commission Queensland has recently published a ‘Land Access Checklist for Landholders’, which lists seven general principles to assist landholders in negotiating land access agreements with coal seam gas operators.
Resource companies are required to negotiate compensation with landholders prior to undertaking significant activities on their land. Usually, the compensation is detailed in an agreement called a ‘conduct and compensation agreement’ (CCA).
The Strategic Cropping Land Act (Act) has been passed to protect ‘strategic cropping land’ in Queensland from development that would permanently alienate the land, or reduce its agricultural capacity. The Act commenced on 30 January 2012.