❓ The Minister for Mines and Petroleum responds to a question about mining approval timelines, highlighting improvements since the Labor government, attributing it to reforms like online lodgement and tracking. They cite statistics and rankings to support their claims of increased efficiency and investment attractiveness.
AnsweredQoN 939Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MINING —
APPROVALS
939. Mr J. NORBERGER to the
Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
This week is Repeal Week. Can the minister please update the house
about mining approval time lines and how our figures compare with when the
Labor Party was last in government?
APPROVALS
939. Mr J. NORBERGER to the
Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
This week is Repeal Week. Can the minister please update the house
about mining approval time lines and how our figures compare with when the
Labor Party was last in government?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Joondalup for the question.
When we came to government in 2008, the mining industry had a
major concern with how long it took to get approvals, so we instigated a range
of reforms. Probably the most significant reform was the online lodgement and
tracking system. This has led to greater regulatory transparency, more
administrative efficiency and, of course, reduced approval time lines. For
example, in the 2007 March quarter, only 56 per cent of mining proposals were
assessed within the time line target of 30 business days. Following
administrative reform—roll forward four years to the 2011 March quarter—and
96 per cent of mining proposals were assessed within 30 business days. It is
hard to remember how bad it was; we have to go back to the Labor days. An
August 2007 Resource Stocks survey showed that Australia had slipped from
number one in the world to number eight, behind countries such as Botswana and
Namibia. A lot of the proponents that filled in the survey recognised that the
red and green tape in Western Australia was bringing the Australian average
down. How things have changed! The Fraser Institute recognised Western
Australia as the number one mining destination in the world in which to invest
capital.
We are not resting on our laurels. We are continuing to
improve our online systems. Now companies can actually make payments, lodge
operational reports and even bid online for petroleum acreage releases.
Collectively all these reforms have made conducting business in Western
Australia greater for mining companies. I will just refer to a chart to show
how things have improved. The chart says it all; in 2006–07, mining
tenements pending were 18 481 and now we are down to 4 170.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mr W.R. MARMION : I
am closing, Mr Speaker.
Under Labor, projects were stalled and people did not want to
invest in Western Australia. We have turned that right around. We have reduced
red tape and continue to look at other ways to improve our process to make them
more efficient so that Western Australia is a great place to invest in.
When we came to government in 2008, the mining industry had a
major concern with how long it took to get approvals, so we instigated a range
of reforms. Probably the most significant reform was the online lodgement and
tracking system. This has led to greater regulatory transparency, more
administrative efficiency and, of course, reduced approval time lines. For
example, in the 2007 March quarter, only 56 per cent of mining proposals were
assessed within the time line target of 30 business days. Following
administrative reform—roll forward four years to the 2011 March quarter—and
96 per cent of mining proposals were assessed within 30 business days. It is
hard to remember how bad it was; we have to go back to the Labor days. An
August 2007 Resource Stocks survey showed that Australia had slipped from
number one in the world to number eight, behind countries such as Botswana and
Namibia. A lot of the proponents that filled in the survey recognised that the
red and green tape in Western Australia was bringing the Australian average
down. How things have changed! The Fraser Institute recognised Western
Australia as the number one mining destination in the world in which to invest
capital.
We are not resting on our laurels. We are continuing to
improve our online systems. Now companies can actually make payments, lodge
operational reports and even bid online for petroleum acreage releases.
Collectively all these reforms have made conducting business in Western
Australia greater for mining companies. I will just refer to a chart to show
how things have improved. The chart says it all; in 2006–07, mining
tenements pending were 18 481 and now we are down to 4 170.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mr W.R. MARMION : I
am closing, Mr Speaker.
Under Labor, projects were stalled and people did not want to
invest in Western Australia. We have turned that right around. We have reduced
red tape and continue to look at other ways to improve our process to make them
more efficient so that Western Australia is a great place to invest in.
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