The project has now been referred to the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water for consideration under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Construction of the new Inland Rail track connecting North Star to NSW/Queensland Border will only proceed once environmental approval is granted.
The North Star to NSW/Queensland Border project consists of upgrading approximately 27km of non-operational rail corridor and constructing 12km of new track. This includes approximately 30km in NSW and 9km in Queensland.
While the NSW section of the project has received State approval, the 9km section of rail in Queensland will be considered as part of the environmental approvals by Queensland's Coordinator General.
The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project was placed on public exhibition between 26 August and 6 October 2020.
Following the EIS public exhibition, the NSW Department of Planning and the Environment (DPE) publicly released the North Star to NSW/Queensland Border Response to Submissions Report, Biodiversity Development Assessment Report and Preferred Infrastructure Report in June 2021 as part of the project's assessment phase.
To view the conditions of approval on the DPE website, please visit the NSW Government Planning Portal website.
