❓ Question regarding reduced mining inspection programs and environmental compliance. Minister defends the decision, citing resource allocation to approvals due to industry success and robust mine closure planning.
AnsweredQoN 47Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MINING
— ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
47. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I refer to the Auditor General's eleventh report that
reveals the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety has reduced planned inspection programs by
60 per cent or more over the last five years—programs designed to ensure that mining operators comply with
conditions to minimise the environmental impacts of their activity. Was this a deliberate policy decision of the McGowan Labor government or has it
once again been asleep at the wheel?
— ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
47. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I refer to the Auditor General's eleventh report that
reveals the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety has reduced planned inspection programs by
60 per cent or more over the last five years—programs designed to ensure that mining operators comply with
conditions to minimise the environmental impacts of their activity. Was this a deliberate policy decision of the McGowan Labor government or has it
once again been asleep at the wheel?
AnswerView source ↗
Firstly, I want to thank the Auditor General for her work
because she plays an important part in Western Australia on behalf of the
people of Western Australia. I appreciate the briefing that she provided to me
before she tabled the report so that I had a clear picture of what was
contained in the report.
I point out to the member
the same thing that I mentioned to the Auditor General: the environmental
approvals t hat we provide are
different from the environmental approvals provided by the Department of Water
and Environmental Regulation. All mines end up closing and are
rehabilitated to a final landform at the point of closure. That means that
there can be some things that go wrong in terms of perhaps exceeding the
boundary of an approved area, but in the end, there still has to be rehab to
the agreed approved final landform. Even if an inspection is not done in any
year, it is not actually the end of the debate because, at the end of the mine,
the mine has to be rehabilitated to whatever has been agreed to between the
department and the developer. Often, let us say in the case of a bauxite or a sand
mine, the final landform is as close as possible to the original landform
because we are removing only a very small
amount of the material on that site. But of course let us say, for an open-cut
goldmine, the final landform is going to be a lake because it will not
fill the large void from an open-cut goldmine. Our environmental regulation
obligations are different from those of the Department of Water and
Environmental Regulation when it might be protecting the community from a spill
by some pollutant. It is a very different environmental obligation. Part of the
environmental obligation might be about the final form of the tailings storage
facility to ensure no acid leach from the
tailings. That is done at the start of the project, and then it is monitored
over time. Again, it is not the same risk as the risks managed by other
agencies.
In discussion with the industry, we
were asked by industry—because Western Australia is so successful in
the mining industry, there are more projects than ever before in the history of
Western Australia—whether it could take resources from its
environmental regulation monitoring and apply them to approvals. I thought that
was a good idea and I agreed to that. I pointed out to the Auditor General that
she did not include that in the report. I would have thought it would have been
valuable for the community to understand that this was not a failing by the department, but, rather, a policy decision of
government because the environmental risks we are dealing with are still
being properly managed. They are being properly managed at the approval stage
and they are being properly managed throughout the process, but, more
importantly, they are properly managed at the point of closure of the mine. Western
Australia has the world's best mine closure planning process because we
require the mine closure plan to be included with the mine plan. That means
when the mine opens, they have to tell us what they are going to do for the mine closure. Every five years when
the mine plan is updated, we require an update of the mine closure plan.
On top of that, we have the mining rehabilitation fund, which is effectively an
insurance policy against the failure to meet the obligations companies set out
for themselves.
Yes, we did deliberately add
resources to the approvals process because we have had the most successful
economy for mining anywhere in the world. I will give the member more
statistics on that: we have the largest number of projects, we have the largest
number of employees and our share of exploration activities nationally has gone
from 50 per cent when I became minister to
now 65 per cent. Not only are we at a record level, but also our share of
mining in Australia has increased since I became the responsible minister.
That is all completely opposite from what the member and her friends said in
2017 when they spent three hours saying that the mining industry would collapse
in Western Australia if I became the minister.
because she plays an important part in Western Australia on behalf of the
people of Western Australia. I appreciate the briefing that she provided to me
before she tabled the report so that I had a clear picture of what was
contained in the report.
I point out to the member
the same thing that I mentioned to the Auditor General: the environmental
approvals t hat we provide are
different from the environmental approvals provided by the Department of Water
and Environmental Regulation. All mines end up closing and are
rehabilitated to a final landform at the point of closure. That means that
there can be some things that go wrong in terms of perhaps exceeding the
boundary of an approved area, but in the end, there still has to be rehab to
the agreed approved final landform. Even if an inspection is not done in any
year, it is not actually the end of the debate because, at the end of the mine,
the mine has to be rehabilitated to whatever has been agreed to between the
department and the developer. Often, let us say in the case of a bauxite or a sand
mine, the final landform is as close as possible to the original landform
because we are removing only a very small
amount of the material on that site. But of course let us say, for an open-cut
goldmine, the final landform is going to be a lake because it will not
fill the large void from an open-cut goldmine. Our environmental regulation
obligations are different from those of the Department of Water and
Environmental Regulation when it might be protecting the community from a spill
by some pollutant. It is a very different environmental obligation. Part of the
environmental obligation might be about the final form of the tailings storage
facility to ensure no acid leach from the
tailings. That is done at the start of the project, and then it is monitored
over time. Again, it is not the same risk as the risks managed by other
agencies.
In discussion with the industry, we
were asked by industry—because Western Australia is so successful in
the mining industry, there are more projects than ever before in the history of
Western Australia—whether it could take resources from its
environmental regulation monitoring and apply them to approvals. I thought that
was a good idea and I agreed to that. I pointed out to the Auditor General that
she did not include that in the report. I would have thought it would have been
valuable for the community to understand that this was not a failing by the department, but, rather, a policy decision of
government because the environmental risks we are dealing with are still
being properly managed. They are being properly managed at the approval stage
and they are being properly managed throughout the process, but, more
importantly, they are properly managed at the point of closure of the mine. Western
Australia has the world's best mine closure planning process because we
require the mine closure plan to be included with the mine plan. That means
when the mine opens, they have to tell us what they are going to do for the mine closure. Every five years when
the mine plan is updated, we require an update of the mine closure plan.
On top of that, we have the mining rehabilitation fund, which is effectively an
insurance policy against the failure to meet the obligations companies set out
for themselves.
Yes, we did deliberately add
resources to the approvals process because we have had the most successful
economy for mining anywhere in the world. I will give the member more
statistics on that: we have the largest number of projects, we have the largest
number of employees and our share of exploration activities nationally has gone
from 50 per cent when I became minister to
now 65 per cent. Not only are we at a record level, but also our share of
mining in Australia has increased since I became the responsible minister.
That is all completely opposite from what the member and her friends said in
2017 when they spent three hours saying that the mining industry would collapse
in Western Australia if I became the minister.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.