The West Australian - 04/08/2025
ABC Radio Perth - 04/08/2025
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Coexistence is defined as the state or fact of living or existing at the same time or in the same place. This presents a social, environmental, technical, and economic challenge for land-based developments both in Australia and globally.
Australia’s project development landscape is currently congested, as projects from various sectors concurrently but independently progress through similar developmental phases, at different speeds, within common jurisdictions. This congestion results from emerging technologies and expanding land users interacting with each other, and existing land users. The impacts and uncertainties are heightened by the ‘layering’ of legislation, land uses, and policies that interact without being interconnected.
The rush to roll out renewable energy projects is placing enormous pressure on land access across Australia, squeezing out mining and agriculture. The two industries that continue to deliver jobs, royalties and long-term economic productivity.
This video highlights how poor coordination and overlapping approvals are paralysing development and threatening the industries that have built our economy.
We know renewables are critical to our future energy needs, but once built, they provide little in the way of ongoing jobs or royalties. However, they’re often given priority access. Learn why we need a more balanced, consistent approach to land use, before it’s too late.
The Australian landmass is the sixth-largest in the world. The equivalent of more than ‘two Australia’s’ would be required to provide exclusive rights to all current land users. But in some cases, exclusivity isn’t essential if the policy settings and timing are right. Increases in land-use conflict will impair developments and result in a contested development landscape. How Australia coordinates and drives the growth of new and expanding natural resources and infrastructure development is crucial to maximise land use potential and unlocking productivity.
*excluding renewables tenements as public information not available
Coexistence refers to the simultaneous and sustainable use of land by multiple sectors, such as mining, agriculture, and renewable energy, without conflict. It involves managing overlapping land tenures, regulatory frameworks, and stakeholder interests to optimise productivity and minimise disruption.
Key challenges include:
Australia’s land is increasingly congested with competing land uses. Without coexistence, conflicts over land access and use can delay developments, increase costs, and reduce national productivity. Coordinated coexistence can unlock economic, environmental, and social value.
Mining requires almost exclusive access and long timelines, while renewables like solar and wind can coexist with other land uses, but lack consistent disclosure standards.
Risks include:
Land tenure layering means multiple legal rights can exist over the same land (e.g. Native Title, exploration licenses, agricultural leases). This complexity requires careful coordination to avoid conflicts and ensure fair access and compensation.
Yes. The report outlines three models:
Without coordinated coexistence, Australia risks a contested development landscape. However, with integrated planning, shared data, and stakeholder collaboration, coexistence can become a sovereign capability that boosts national productivity and sustainability.
In 2024 Australian established land-based sectors, including energy, agriculture, and mining, were crucial economic drivers, contributing $493 billion to the Australian economy. Safeguarding long term impacts and enhancing productivity in these sectors is crucial.
Non-agricultural intensive land uses (including manufacturing, housing, utilities, mining and waste) occupy less than one half of 1% of total land.
To meet energy goals, large-scale solar generation has emerged and expanded rapidly, with a 2777% growth from 2016 to 2023, and going forward would require building about 40 wind turbines (7 megawatts) every month, and 22,000 solar panels (500 watt) every day.
Despite being a material land user, the current footprint of these emerging sectors could not be defined in this study due to a lack of publicly available data.
Participants in this study identified coexistence as a necessity and opportunity highlighting a range of direct impacts (land access and land use), indirect impacts (disclosure risks, uncontrolled interactions, asymmetry in standards and processes), and cumulative impacts (local governments, housing, workforce, infrastructure, stakeholder access and fatigue) that can affect practical coexistence.
In many cases it is falling on communities and local governments to manage impacts from competing land users and general project demands. These are the stakeholders least equipped, and yet they are often the only ones with a full view of competing projects and competing land uses. If this is not addressed, developers will struggle for social license.
There is limited awareness and understanding between sectors. Coexistence is akin to having multiple sporting codes seeking to use the same sporting ground and facilities independently of each other.
Low awareness or understanding of other sectors or land uses is a challenge that can be overcome through notifications and public data.