Newman Government hints at sale of billions of dollars in state land THE Queensland Government has hinted it is open to billions of dollars' worth of land sales, with State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Minister Jeff Seeney yesterday telling a Property Council lunch the Government is ``cash-poor and property-rich. The Deputy Premier said three-quarters of Queensland's land mass administered by the state had a value of about $67.9 billion, and it also held a proportion of the remaining quarter that was freehold. ``That's much more land than the state could ever want, or need," he said. ``We are taking steps to look seriously at the underused land we have on the state's balance sheet, potentially worth billions of dollars, and work out how it can best be used. Mr Seeney said millions of hectares of government land could be better used by the not-for-profit sector, while some could also be unlocked by the private sector for industrial or residential development. ``The bottom line is we're awash with land and it costs money to hold it," he said. ``Being a `landlord' on this scale just means that taxpayers meet huge bills for maintenance of this land bank: building repairs, fence repairs, weed management and other land management responsibilities. ``It just doesn't make sense to maintain this massive land bank for the sake of it. Mr Seeney said the Government Land and Asset Management Group within his department was reviewing property assets to identify ``surplus" land. He also told the lunch the Government planned to introduce new legislation early next year to replace the existing Sustainable Planning Act. ``The Government understands that for too long, Queensland's property and construction sector has been burdened by an over-regulated planning system," he said. ``The purpose of the new legislation will be to enable development. Urban Development Institute of Australia president Neil O'Connor said he backed a ``complete overhaul" of the Act. ``New, simpler legislation, combined with infrastructure charging reform and cultural change at a local government level is sorely needed to deliver a more efficient and effective planning system that encourages development," he said.