11 October 2024

Tanya Plibersek’s Statement of Reasons document for rejecting the McPhillamys gold mine reveals that the Environment Minister made the section 10 declaration on an Indigenous songline that the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council (OLALC) says does not exist.

As well as undermining the authority of the OLALC by going against their advice, the Environment Minister fuelled the fire with her New South Wales Labor Government counterparts by claiming that NSW laws did not provide “effective protection” of the local waterway. In so doing, she has rubbished the claims by Premier Chris Minns that the state government’s assessment of the mine was “rigorous”.

The Statement of Reasons reveals that the Environment Minister also accepted that her decision would make the mine unviable and that this would have impacts for the proponents and the wider community. She has now conceded that the proponents had considered 30 alternative options for the tailings dam across four investigation areas and that finding an alternative site “would have time and resource implications.” This contrasts heavily with a number of previous statements by the Minister, including in the House of Representatives on September 10 that “the company in question want the cheapest, most cost-effective option for the building of their tailings dam”.

The Statement of Reasons, curiously dated today, elicits the shocking attitude that Minister Plibersek takes to making environmental approvals. The Minister states that the impacts of her declaration on the proponents “outweigh the irreversible damage and permanent loss to the Aboriginal cultural heritage in the declared area.” Even with the cultural heritage claims of songlines being debunked by the OLALC, this essentially reads that the Environment Minister is willing to escalate sovereign risk and undermine the fabric of communities and worthwhile projects by siding with applicants who are not the legislated voice of country for the local area. The impacts of this attitude on resources projects nationwide, especially the community of Blayney, are therefore far-reaching. Any mines and communities that potentially face cultural heritage claims are at risk because of this Minister and this Government.

Shadow Environment Minister Jonno Duniam is incredulous at the Minister’s reasons for rejecting the gold mine: “That Tanya Plibersek rejected the gold mine because of a songline that the Local Orange Aboriginal Land Council says does not exist is simply astonishing.”

“The Minister has not only undermined the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, but has also undermined the State Labor Government by claiming that its laws did not provide “effective protection” for the local waterway, in stark contrast to Premier Minns’ claims that his state’s assessment processes were “rigorous””.

“Our sovereign risk is severely escalated by having Tanya Plibersek as the Minister for the Environment. We now know that she is willing to bulldoze projects that have state government and federal government approvals all in the name of protecting Indigenous heritage. While no one wants to wreck our Indigenous cultural heritage, the basis for the rejection defies the legislated Aboriginal representatives of the area.”

“Every project that has state and federal governmental approval, and every community that would benefit from a mine, is at risk from this Environment Minister.”

“This document provides cold comfort to the people of Blayney who have been given the cold shoulder by the Environment Minister because of cultural heritage claims that have already been debunked.”