❓ Question regarding delays in addressing security of mining tenure following the Forrest and Forrest v Wilson decision, specifically concerning validation of past grants and the timeline for legislative action. The Minister acknowledges the delays, citing the need for Commonwealth cooperation on Native Title Act amendments and the decision to proceed with addressing future grants independently.
AnsweredQoN 429Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MINING TENEMENTS — HIGH COURT DECISION
429. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
Before I ask the question, I thank
the minister for the briefing by his department this morning on the matter that
I am about to ask him about.
I refer to the minister's
media statement from last week advising that the government had approved draft
mining amendment legislation to address security of tenure issues following a decision
in the Forrest and Forrest v Wilson and Ors case.
(1) Can the
minister confirm that the substantive matter of validation for those impacted
by the 2017 decision will not be addressed in this term of Parliament?
(2) Given this
issue emerged in 2017, why has it taken seven years for this government to act,
albeit just on procedural matters in the stalled Mining Amendment Bill
introduced in 2018?
429. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
Before I ask the question, I thank
the minister for the briefing by his department this morning on the matter that
I am about to ask him about.
I refer to the minister's
media statement from last week advising that the government had approved draft
mining amendment legislation to address security of tenure issues following a decision
in the Forrest and Forrest v Wilson and Ors case.
(1) Can the
minister confirm that the substantive matter of validation for those impacted
by the 2017 decision will not be addressed in this term of Parliament?
(2) Given this
issue emerged in 2017, why has it taken seven years for this government to act,
albeit just on procedural matters in the stalled Mining Amendment Bill
introduced in 2018?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for the question. Obviously, this follows up a question the
member asked on these issues a month or so ago. It is something that I know
this government has taken seriously for some time—that is, the Forrest
and Forrest v Wilson and Ors decision of the High Court and addressing the
uncertainty from that decision. The state, under the former minister, committed
to validating past grants of tenure as well as ensuring security of future
grants. The member would be aware that validating past grants requires
amendments to the national Native Title Act through the commonwealth. The state
government continues to work with the commonwealth government on this and we
continue to seek its assistance on this. We took the decision, as per the media
statement, to deal with this issue for future grants so we are not adding to
future issues, as well as to deal with some of those other matters on which the
mining sector has been asking for some
reform, based on some other legal issues, to assist with the security of
tenure, which I know the member would have been briefed about today,
like Blue Ribbon and some of those other issues, to do this legislation rather
than wait for us to get an agreement from the commonwealth. We will continue to
seek that agreement from the commonwealth. The member will note that in the
last term of government, we introduced the Mining Amendment (Procedures and
Validation) Bill 2018 to signal our intention to do that. We will continue to
work with the commonwealth, and we know how important this is. We took the
decision to do what we can now rather than hold up the process.
thank the member for the question. Obviously, this follows up a question the
member asked on these issues a month or so ago. It is something that I know
this government has taken seriously for some time—that is, the Forrest
and Forrest v Wilson and Ors decision of the High Court and addressing the
uncertainty from that decision. The state, under the former minister, committed
to validating past grants of tenure as well as ensuring security of future
grants. The member would be aware that validating past grants requires
amendments to the national Native Title Act through the commonwealth. The state
government continues to work with the commonwealth government on this and we
continue to seek its assistance on this. We took the decision, as per the media
statement, to deal with this issue for future grants so we are not adding to
future issues, as well as to deal with some of those other matters on which the
mining sector has been asking for some
reform, based on some other legal issues, to assist with the security of
tenure, which I know the member would have been briefed about today,
like Blue Ribbon and some of those other issues, to do this legislation rather
than wait for us to get an agreement from the commonwealth. We will continue to
seek that agreement from the commonwealth. The member will note that in the
last term of government, we introduced the Mining Amendment (Procedures and
Validation) Bill 2018 to signal our intention to do that. We will continue to
work with the commonwealth, and we know how important this is. We took the
decision to do what we can now rather than hold up the process.
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