Devil in the detail: miners wary of Coalition’s land use policy

The task for the Coalition remains to balance its much touted “triple bottom line” of social, environmental and economic considerations, as it sets about the task of reforming the state’s exploration laws. With the bill yet to pass through parliament, miners remain sceptical.

There are several key changes promised in the Coalition’s policy. One is scrapping the controversial Part 3A of the current Planning Act that allows state government to overrule local councils on major project approvals. The second requires explorers to submit an agricultural productivity impact assessment and third is the introduction of an Aquifer Interference Regulation.

The Coalition also pledged to only collect fees for projects after a Mining Licence had been granted – based on a predetermined schedule around the tonnage of the mine – and to establish an independent section for agricultural sustainability and food security within the Department of Primary Industries.

To ensure smooth passage of these reforms through parliament, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries Duncan Gay promised all future and current exploration licenses would face a tougher set of assessment criteria and a “transition period” of 12 months for the new legislation.

The NSW Minerals Council is sceptical of the proposal, and told the AJM “it is unacceptable for there to be one rule for mining and another rule for every other industry. Nor is it acceptable for a company applying for a mining project to have changes made half way through a process simply because the project is for a mine.”

Minerals Council chief executive Dr Nikki Williams said “to reject any mining application that may have a detrimental impact on strategic agricultural land during the transitional period is a significant concern. This changes the rules mid-stream for anyone currently preparing a proposal for a mining project. Decisions about any development are and should be made on a case-by-case basis and that’s why we cannot support this one size fits all approach.”

Minister Gay told the AJM that “we have put tough rules in there during the transition period. I understand their concerns. All I can say is that I can hope that is not the case, and we are working on protocols to make sure that this transition zone remains what it is meant to be: a tough transition zone and not a roadblock. We are determined that it won’t be.”

Australian Minerals Exploration Council chief executive Simon Bennison said “there just needs to be an understanding of exploration requirements. Access to land doesn’t necessarily mean that an automatic right to mine is going to be granted. “It is important that the state understands what its defined reserves are, and I think they need to be awfully careful that they don’t discourage exploration companies in particular discovering the pipeline of supply for the commodities of tomorrow.”

Gay said his primary objective was to create equity between land users, not to curtail exploration. “We want a greater surety for those landholders and the community that mining interacts with and that also means greater surety for mining companies that means they won’t be wasting their time trying to develop in places where they are probably not going to have a chance to develop.”

However, Gay did not back away from the need to redress the current relationship between mining and agriculture. “The community has a concern that the pendulum has swung too far. What we are trying to do is take the pendulum back to a point of balance.”

The Coalition has committed $8m to implement the new legislation. “The policy comes with funding,” Gay said. “It will use every dollar of that, but we certainly weren’t bringing something in unfunded.”

The NSW Minerals Council warned that half measures from the Coalition in implementing this policy will see the initiative fall short. “The Coalition must follow through on its commitment to resource this strategy and the agencies that will oversee the dismantling of the planning system and implement this enormous reform. The size of this task should not be underestimated and if it is not done properly, in consultation with the affected industries and communities, it will fail.”

With echoes of the brawl over Federal Labor’s failed super profit tax, Bennison said if the reforms were to result in increased bureaucracy and diminished productivity, “companies in their frustration will go to other countries that offer a more conducive environment to develop in both exploration and in mining.”

Although the task before the Coalition is imposing, the industry remains open to reform. “NSW needs strategic regional land use plans to minimise conflicts and to maximise the capacities of our communities, our industries and our economy,” the NSW Minerals Council said.