10 September 2024

Topics: McPhillamys gold mine and the Coalition disallowance motion seeking to overturn the section 10 declaration

E&OE

 

Janeen Hosemans:

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has vowed to get the McPhillamys Gold Mine project up and running again as he flagged changes to the indigenous heritage laws that allowed, and I’m quoting him, the disgraceful decision by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to shut the project down near Orange last month. The motion has been introduced into the Senate by the Shadow Environment Minister Jonno Duniam, and it will be debated and voted on this afternoon. He joins us on the line. Jonno, good afternoon to you.

 

Senator Duniam:

G’day Janeen, thank you for having me.

 

Janeen Hosemans:

It’s an absolute pleasure. Could you firstly tell us please what was the motion that you introduced into the Senate?

 

Senator Duniam:

Well, the motion that we put into the Senate is a pretty straightforward one. The instrument the Minister had to sign to declare the tailings dam for the McPhillamys gold mine invalid is what’s called a legislative instrument. So in the Senate, we have the power to move a motion to overturn that. I need to get a majority of senators to agree with me in that motion, and we’ve had a good debate already, that will continue and come to a vote this afternoon. I’m hopeful that common sense will prevail because this is not just some business-as-usual decision that we can fix up tomorrow. This is a billion-dollar gold mine with 800 jobs attached to it in a regional community where the jobs are needed and the Minister to this very day has failed to outline to anyone in this Parliament. Anyone in your community why she’s knocked this project on the head for good reason.

 

Janeen Hosemans:

OK, let’s just have a talk about the actual heritage laws. I mean, Peter Dutton has said that Tanya Plibersek’s decision should send a chill across the resources industry. Could it just be argued as well that the change to heritage laws could send a chill across our First Nations people?

 

Senator Duniam:

Well, the funny thing is about the decision making process here Janeen is that the company not only had it got its full federal and state environmental approvals, it had complied with all of the requirements that needed to be dealt with relating to the requests of the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council. There are a number of changes they requested, and they’re the group that have legislative authority to speak on part of country as traditional owners in terms of any planning or cultural heritage process. So, the company, Regis Resources, that owns McPhillamys gold mine and the project we’re talking about here had engaged for four years, they dealt with thirteen local Aboriginal organisations. They engaged five different consultants to look at archaeological and anthropological issues related to cultural heritage. These laws are so open ended that any person claiming to be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander anywhere in the country can claim to have an interest in the issues that the project might impact – cultural heritage issues – and if they fear desecration and they say that to the Minister, the Minister of the day can knock any project on the head at any point, even if it has full state and federal environmental and planning and cultural heritage approval.

 

Janeen Hosemans:

Can you understand that the comments that you just made, it could be seen as being deeply, deeply offensive to First Nations people?

 

Senator Duniam:

With regard to any individual anywhere in the country, the point that’s been made to me and by people like Roy Ah-See, I might add as well, a Wiradjuri elder who had the courage to come to the Orange Bush Summit to talk about this very issue, the fact that there is no hard and fast rule about how to engage with First Nations Australians and understand how to manage the interests of traditional owners in a coherent way, and we have competing interests here that are drowning out one or other, is a fault of the process. I don’t think it’s offensive to want to have certainty for First Nations Australians or for communities who want to get projects up. And that was what Roy Ah-See, as I say, a Wiradjuri elder who has now said because of this decision that his people have been denied economic opportunity. And in fact it was the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council that pointed out that the group who has lodged this application, they were concerned were fabricating issues to raise as a means of hijacking this process.

 

Janeen Hosemans:

Why would they want to do that?

 

Senator Duniam:

Well, you’d have to ask the applicants who have had the successful section 10 application granted. We haven’t been able to get answers out of the Minister. She has refused to provide a statement of reasons thus far, which is something I think the Australian community deserves. I think that people of Blayney and the people of Orange certainly deserve it as well, and the proponents of the project should be able to see what it is the Minister has based her decision on but to date we don’t have that.

 

Janeen Hosemans:

Jonno, Tanya Plibersek says she has spoken, she claims she has spoken about the reasons and that is that the particular area where the McPhillamys gold mine wished to put the tailings down is one of cultural significance in terms of initiation rights. Could it be argued that McPhillamys should look at an alternative place for their tailings dam?

 

Senator Duniam:

So McPhillamys, Regis Resources, the proponents of the project through the State Independent Planning Commission looked at all of that. The Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council considered the concerns around whether there were culturally significant impacts that would be felt here and the determination that it wasn’t. Under the section 10 application that the Minister has made a decision on now, she is required to engage an independent expert to assess the application. It is my understanding that that individual that did the assessment recommended that the application not be upheld, that the mine and its tailings dam should proceed. The Minister has gone against that independent expert advice and has knocked this project on the head, which is frankly a very disappointing outcome and to date, yes, there are a couple of sentences that have been put out by the Minister, but they are not satisfactory. They do not constitute the legally required statement of reasons she is to provide to the proponents and to the community.

 

Janeen Hosemans:

How do you expect the vote to go this afternoon?

 

Senator Duniam:

Well look, as I say I would hope that any Senator who wants good process to reign, whether they support the project or not, would look at this and demand the Minister provide the statement of reasons so that we can vote appropriately. And if she doesn’t, then they should vote to disallow her decision to knock this project on the head. It will be a tight one. I am hopeful that it will pass the Senate, but we’ll see in just a couple of hours’ time.

 

Janeen Hosemans:

Jonno Duniam, I thank you very much for joining us. I’ll ask you to hold the line, but we’ll leave the interview there and I’m sure we’ll be chatting again.

 

Senator Duniam:

Thanks very much.