{"id":"BILL-TAS-crown-lands-treasury-complex-bill-2026-17-of-2026","name":"Crown Lands (Treasury Complex) Bill 2026","slug":"crown-lands-treasury-complex-bill-2026","collection":"bill","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":"2026-01-01","administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":446181,"registerId":"BILL-TAS-crown-lands-treasury-complex-bill-2026-17-of-2026:current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-01-01","status":"in_force","reasons":null,"registeredAt":"2026-05-08T16:48:05.432Z"},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"retrieval-0001","sectionType":"document_chunk","heading":"Document excerpt 1","content":"# Crown Lands (Treasury Complex) Bill 2026\n\n[Bill 17]-VII\nTASMANIA\n__________\nCROWN LANDS (TREASURY COMPLEX) BILL\n2026\n__________\nCONTENTS\n1. Short title\n2. Commencement\n3. Interpretation\n4. Treasury Complex site\n5. Treasury Complex site vested in Crown\n6. Treasury Complex site free from limitations\n7. Crown may create title\n8. Creation of easements\n9. Covenants and agreements affecting Treasury Complex site\n10. Revocation of reservations\n11. Compensation not payable\n12. Powers under this Act additional to other powers\n13. Regulations\n14. Administration of Act\nSchedule 1 – Treasury Complex Site\n\n2\n\n[Bill 17] 3\nCROWN LANDS (TREASURY COMPLEX) BILL\n2026\n(Brought in by the Treasurer, the Honourable Eric Abetz)\nA BILL FOR\nAn Act to enable the issue of one or more titles under the\nLand Titles Act 1980 for Crown land situated at 21 Murray\nStreet, Hobart, and for related purposes\nBe it enacted by Her Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by\nand with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and\nHouse of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:\n1. Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Crown Lands\n(Treasury Complex) Act 2026.\n2. Commencement\nThis Act commences on the day on which this\nAct receives the Royal Assent.\n3. Interpretation\nIn this Act, unless the contrary appears –\ncommencement day means the day on which\nthis Act commences;\nCrown land has the same meaning as in the\nCrown Lands Act 1976;\n\nCrown Lands (Treasury Complex) Act 2026\nAct No. of 2026\ns. 4\n4\ndirect means direct in writing;\nDirector-General of Lands has the same\nmeaning as in the Crown Lands Act\n1976;\nlimitation, in relation to land, means any trust,\nreservation, restriction, exception,\nencumbrance, limitation, estate or\ninterest in or in relation to the land,\nhowever created or imposed;\nMinister means the Minister administering the\nCrown Lands Act 1976;\nRecorder of Titles means the person\nappointed as Recorder of Titles under\nsection 4 of the Land Titles Act 1980;\nRegister means the register of title kept under\nsection 33 of the Land Titles Act 1980;\nTreasury Complex site has the meaning\ngiven by section 4.\n4. Treasury Complex site\n(1) The Treasury Complex site comprises all that\narea of land of about 5 689 square metres shown\nas Lot 1, and bounded by a heavy black line, on\nPlan 11660 in the Central Plan Register.\n(2) A reduced copy of the plan referred to in\nsubsection (1) is set out, by way of illustration\nonly, in Schedule 1.\n\nCrown Lands (Treasury Complex) Act 2026\nAct No. of 2026\ns. 5\n5\n5. Treasury Complex site vested in Crown\nAny land within the Treasury Complex site that,\nimmediately before the commencement day, is\nnot Crown land vests in the Crown on that day.\n6. Treasury Complex site free from limitations\n(1) All land within the Treasury Complex site is\ntaken to be unalienated Crown land on and from\nthe commencement day until the land is disposed\nof under the Crown Lands Act 1976 or any other\nAct or law of Tasmania.\n(2) On the commencement day, all land within the\nTreasury Complex site is freed and discharged\nfrom all limitations except as otherwise\ndetermined by the Minister by notice in the\nGazette.\n(3) On the commencement day, all public and\nprivate rights and interests in any land within the\nTreasury Complex site are extinguished except\nas otherwise determined by the Minister by\nnotice in the Gazette.\n(4) A notice under subsection (2) or (3) –\n(a) is taken to have taken effect on the\ncommencement day; and\n(b) is not a statutory rule for the purposes of\nthe Rules Publication Act 1953.\n\nCrown Lands (Treasury Complex) Act 2026\nAct No. of 2026\ns. 7\n6\n7. Crown may create title\n(1) The Minister and the Director-General of Lands\nmay do all things necessary or convenient for the\npurposes of creating titles under the Land Titles\nAct 1980 to land within the Treasury Complex\nsite, including titles to areas of land above or\nbelow the surface of land.\n(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1),\napplications may be made to the Recorder of\nTitles under section 27A of the Land Titles Act\n1980 in relation to land within the Treasury\nComplex site.\n(3) The Minister may direct that the Recorder of\nTitles re-arrange or extinguish any folio of the\nRegister relating to any land within the Treasury\nComplex site.\n(4) On receipt of a direction under subsection (3),\nthe Recorder of Titles is to re-arrange or\nextinguish a folio of the Register as the Recorder\nof Titles considers appropriate.\n(5) Any variation or change made under this section\ndoes not constitute a subdivision within the\nmeaning of the Local Government (Building and\nMiscellaneous Provisions) Act 1993.\n8. Creation of easements\n(1) The Minister may create any easements the\nMinister considers to be appropriate in relation\nto the Treasury Complex site.\n\nCrown Lands (Treasury Complex) Act 2026\nAct No. of 2026\ns. 9\n7\n(2) Without limiting the power of the Minister under\nsubsection (1), the Minister may create\neasements for the purposes of –\n(a) access to the Treasury Complex site; and\n(b) infrastructure and services at, on, under\nor over the Treasury Complex site.\n(3) The Minister may direct the Recorder of Titles to\nrecord, on the folio of the Register relating to\nland which is the subject of the easement, an\neasement created under this section.\n(4) On receiving a direction under subsection (3),\nthe Recorder of Titles is to record the easement,\nas the Recorder of Titles considers appropriate,\non the relevant folio of the Register.\n9. Covenants and agreements affecting Treasury\nComplex site\n(1) The Minister may enter into a positive or\nnegative covenant, or both, relating to any land\nwithin the Treasury Complex site on, or in\nanticipation of, the sale or transfer of that land.\n(2) The Minister may enter into an agreement\nconcerning the use or development, or both, of\nany land within the Treasury Complex site on, or\nin anticipation of, the sale or transfer of that\nland.\n(3) The Minister may direct the Recorder of Titles to\nrecord a covenant or agreement entered into\nunder this section on the folio of the Register\n\nCrown Lands (Treasury Complex) Act 2026\nAct No. of 2026\ns. 10\n8\nrelating to land which is the subject of the\ncovenant or agreement.\n(4) On receipt of a direction under subsection (3),\nthe Recorder of Titles is to record the covenant\nor agreement on the relevant folio of the Register\nas the Recorder of Titles considers appropriate.\n(5) The benefits and burdens of a covenant or\nagreement made under this section run with the\nland to which the covenant or agreement relates,\nand the covenant or agreement is enforceable\nbetween the parties to it and any person deriving\ntitle to the land under any such party.\n10. Revocation of reservations\n(1) Any instrument made under any Act or the royal\nprerogative that reserves, or sets aside, land the\nwhole of which is within the Treasury Complex\nsite is revoked.\n(2) Any instrument made under any Act or the royal\nprerogative that reserves, or sets aside, land only\npart of which is within the Treasury Complex\nsite has no effect in relation to the area of land\nthat is within the Treasury Complex site.\n11. Compensation not payable\nNo compensation is payable by the Crown in\nrespect of –\n(a) the vesting in the Crown of land under\nthis Act; or\n\nCrown Lands (Treasury Complex) Act 2026\nAct No. of 2026\ns. 12\n9\n(b) the freeing and discharging from\nlimitations of land, and the extinguishing\nof rights in land, by the operation of this\nAct; or\n(c) anything done, or omitted to be done, in\ngood faith under the authority, or for the\npurposes, of this Act.\n12. Powers under this Act additional to other powers\nThe powers given by this Act in relation to any\ndealing with land, or in relation to altering or\notherwise dealing with the Register, are in\naddition to any other powers under another Act\nor any other law of Tasmania to deal with the\nland, or to alter or otherwise deal with the\nRegister.\n13. Regulations\n(1) The Governor may make regulations for the\npurposes of this Act.\n(2) The regulations may be made so as to apply\ndifferently according to matters, limitations or\nrestrictions, whether as to time, circumstance or\notherwise, specified in the regulations.\n(3) The regulations may authorise any matter to be\nfrom time to time determined, applied, approved\nor regulated by the Minister, the Director-\nGeneral of Lands or the Recorder of Titles.\n\nCrown Lands (Treasury Complex) Act 2026\nAct No. of 2026\ns. 14\n10\n14. Administration of Act\nUntil provision is made in relation to this Act by\norder under section 4 of the Administrative\nArrangements Act 1990 –\n(a) the administration of this Act is assigned\nto the Treasurer; and\n(b) the department responsible to the\nTreasurer in relation to the administration\nof this Act is the Department of Treasury\nand Finance.\n\nCrown Lands (Treasury Complex) Act 2026\nAct No. of 2026\nsch. 1\n11\nSCHEDULE 1 – TREASURY COMPLEX SITE\nSection 4\nGovernment Printer, Tasmania","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"status_summary":"The bill has been introduced in the Tasmanian House of Assembly and is awaiting further parliamentary stages.","complexity_score":3,"likely_questions":["Why is no compensation payable for the extinguishment of existing rights and interests on the Treasury Complex site?","What existing rights, leases, or encumbrances currently affect the Treasury Complex site?","Will the land be sold to a private developer, or is the government intending to retain ownership?","What is the Treasury Complex used for now, and why is this legislation necessary?","Can the Minister create easements or covenants without any independent oversight or public notice?"],"complexity_factors":["Extinguishes existing property rights and interests without compensation, which is a significant legal intervention.","Confers broad ministerial discretion to create easements, covenants, and direct title rearrangements without public consultation requirements.","Overrides existing reservations and limitations on the site, including any made under royal prerogative or other Acts.","Uses specific plan and register references to define the site, requiring cross-referencing with external documents."],"plain_english_summary":"The Crown Lands (Treasury Complex) Bill 2026 clears the way for creating freehold titles over the 5,689 m² Treasury Complex at 21 Murray Street, Hobart. It does not itself sell the land or authorise development but vests the site in the Crown and extinguishes existing interests and rights without compensation unless the Minister directs otherwise.\n\nThe bill gives wide ministerial and Lands Office powers to create titles, easements and covenants, rearrange registers and bind future owners—concentrating discretion and enabling a streamlined path to marketable titles."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This version remains tightly focused on the stated objective: enabling the issue of one or more Torrens titles for the Crown land at 21 Murray Street. The Act adds a bundle of ancillary powers (vesting, removal of prior limitations, no compensation, creation/registration of titles, easements and covenants, and revocation of existing reservations) to achieve that objective. Those ancillary powers broaden the government's tools to implement the site transfer and future disposal/development, but they do not meaningfully expand the legislative purpose beyond enabling clear Crown title and associated registration steps for the specified site."},"complexity_factors":["Short, focused Act: 14 sections + 1 schedule (limited length)","9 defined terms in the Interpretation section (commencement day; Crown land; direct; Director-General of Lands; limitation; Minister; Recorder of Titles; Register; Treasury Complex site)","Cross-references to multiple statutes: Crown Lands Act 1976; Land Titles Act 1980 (including s 27A); Local Government (Building and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1993; Rules Publication Act 1953; Administrative Arrangements Act 1990","Broad ministerial discretion to extinguish or preserve rights by Gazette notice (s 6(2)–(3)) increases conditionality","No-compensation rule (s 11) creates legal and implementation risk despite simple wording","Ministerial powers to create titles, easements and covenants and to direct Recorder (ss 7–9) are wide but procedurally straightforward","Recorder of Titles must act on directions but retains recording discretion (s 7(4), s 8(4), s 9(4)) — limited procedural complexity","A specific carve-out from local subdivision law (s 7(5)) creates a single, potentially important exception to ordinary land-use controls","Regulations may delegate matters to officials (s 13(3)), adding potential downstream complexity through delegated instruments"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanically)\n\n- Identifies a specific parcel called the \"Treasury Complex site\" (about 5,689 m2 at 21 Murray Street, Hobart) (section 4 and Schedule 1).  \n- Any part of that site that is not already Crown land becomes Crown land on the day the Act starts (vesting) (s 5).  \n- From that same day the land is treated as unalienated Crown land and is freed from existing limitations, trusts, reservations, encumbrances and other public or private rights — except where the Minister preserves particular limitations or rights by publishing a notice in the Gazette (s 6(1)–(4)). Notices in the Gazette are not treated as statutory rules (s 6(4)).  \n- The Minister and the Director‑General of Lands can take the steps needed to create one or more titles for the land under the Land Titles Act 1980, including titles above or below the surface (s 7). The Minister may also direct the Recorder of Titles to re‑arrange or extinguish folios of the Register to give effect to those titles (s 7(2)–(4)).  \n- The Minister may create easements (for access, infrastructure, services, etc.) and direct the Recorder of Titles to register them (s 8).  \n- The Minister may enter into and register positive or negative covenants or other agreements about use or development of the land, and those covenants run with the land and bind successors (s 9).  \n- Instruments under other Acts or the royal prerogative that reserve the whole site are revoked; instruments that reserve only part of the site have no effect over the portion within the site (s 10).  \n- The Crown will not pay compensation for vesting of the land, for the removal of limitations or extinguishing of rights under this Act, or for acts done in good faith under the Act (s 11).  \n- The Act adds to, rather than replaces, any other statutory power to deal with the land or the Register; it allows regulations and administrative arrangements to be made (ss 12–14).\n\nOfficial purpose claim and how the Act achieves it\n\n- The Act's stated purpose is to enable the issue of one or more Torrens titles for the Crown land at 21 Murray Street. Mechanically, it achieves that by: vesting the site in the Crown (s 5), removing prior limitations and rights so the Crown has a clear base title (s 6), authorising the Minister and Director‑General to create and register new titles (s 7), and allowing registration of easements and covenants to shape future use (ss 8–9).\n\nWho pays, who decides, and what changes in behaviour\n\n- Who pays: any person or entity that, immediately before commencement, held rights, interests, reservations or title over land within the site stands to lose those rights without compensation (s 5, s 6, s 11). The Crown bears no compensation obligation (s 11).  \n- Who decides: the Minister (assisted by the Director‑General of Lands) holds broad discretion to decide which prior limitations or rights are preserved (by Gazette notice) and to create/register easements, covenants and titles (ss 6(2)–(3), 7–9). The Recorder of Titles must give effect to Ministerial directions but retains procedural discretion about how to record changes on folios (s 7(4), s 8(4), s 9(4)). Regulations can further delegate or regulate matters to the Minister, Director‑General or Recorder (s 13).  \n- Behavioural change: after commencement private parties can no longer rely on pre‑existing rights within the site unless the Minister has specifically preserved them; the Crown (or parties it transfers title to) can pursue consolidated development or disposal strategies using Torrens titles, registered easements and covenants.\n\nCosts, incentives, trade‑offs and risks (mechanisms, not judgments)\n\n- Concentrated benefits and diffuse costs: the mechanism transfers legal ownership and extinguishes rights (s 5–6). That transfer can concentrate value (to the Crown and any private buyer or developer that acquires the newly created title) while dispersing losses among current rights‑holders who do not receive compensation (s 11).  \n- Incentives for the Crown/private developers: clearing title and allowing creation of above/below‑surface titles, easements and covenants (ss 7–9) reduces legal and title risks for later development or sale; it also removes some local subdivision controls (s 7(5) says these changes are not a \"subdivision\" under the Local Government (Building and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1993), which can lower transaction and approval costs for future projects.  \n- Compliance and administrative burden: the Department of Treasury and Finance (administration assigned to the Treasurer until changed under Administrative Arrangements — s 14) and the Recorder of Titles must carry out re‑arrangements, registrations and folio changes. The Registrar acts on Ministerial directions but retains some discretion about recording form (ss 7(3)–(4), 8(3)–(4), 9(3)–(4)).  \n- Legal and implementation risk: extinguishing rights and denying compensation (s 11) reduces the Crown's exposure to compensation payments but raises the prospect of legal challenge by displaced rights‑holders. The Act reduces ordinary procedural oversight in two ways: (a) preservation of limitations or rights is done by Gazette notice (s 6(2)–(4)), which the Act says is not a statutory rule (s 6(4)); and (b) the Act expressly permits Ministers to make broad directions and regulations (s 13), concentrating discretionary power.  \n- Trade‑offs: the Act prioritises legal certainty and title cleanliness for the site (facilitating sale or development) over preserving existing private or statutory interests in the land without compensation (ss 5–6, s 11). That is the central policy mechanism: extinguish pre‑existing encumbrances, create clean Crown title, and enable registration of new private rights tailored to future transactions (ss 7–9).\n\nPractical effects on private actors and markets\n\n- For existing owners/rights‑holders within the site: material loss of legal rights without compensation unless the Minister preserves them (s 6(2)–(3), s 11).  \n- For prospective buyers or developers: clearer, Crown‑based title, the ability to create strata/subsurface titles and to have easements and covenants registered, plus exemption from the Act's changes being treated as a \"subdivision\" (s 7(5)), collectively lower legal and approval friction for future transactions.  \n- For local government and regulators: some planning or subdivision oversight may be sidelined for the site (s 7(5)), because the Act says title changes under it are not a subdivision under that particular local government statute.\n\nKey provisions to look at when implementing or challenging the Act\n\n- Vesting and extinguishment provisions (ss 5–6), and the Gazette notice mechanism (s 6(2)–(4)).  \n- The no‑compensation clause (s 11).  \n- The Minister's powers to create titles, easements and covenants and to direct the Recorder (ss 7–9).  \n- The carve‑out from being a \"subdivision\" under the Local Government (Building and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1993 (s 7(5)).\n\nBottom line (mechanical): This Act transfers the identified land into Crown ownership immediately, extinguishes prior interests unless the Minister keeps them, disallows compensation for that transfer, and gives the government broad powers to create and register new Torrens titles, easements and covenants to facilitate disposal or development of the site (see ss 4–11)."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/crown-lands-treasury-complex-bill-2026","history":"/api/acts/crown-lands-treasury-complex-bill-2026/history","analysis":"/api/acts/crown-lands-treasury-complex-bill-2026/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/crown-lands-treasury-complex-bill-2026/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/crown-lands-treasury-complex-bill-2026/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/crown-lands-treasury-complex-bill-2026/documents"}}