Shadow Minister for Mining and Industry, Steve Edgington, says Nicole Manison has done nothing to reverse stagnation of the NT’s mining and petroleum industry, remove regulatory roadblocks or overhaul the Territory’s arduous approvals process.
“Today the Minister – who was dumped from Police, and as Treasurer for bungling her portfolios – admitted only one mine has moved from exploration to production in the last six years, there are only six mines operating in the Territory, and 21 mining projects are still waiting for a final investment decision.
Opposition questioning also uncovered:
- No gas exploration permits have been approved in the past four years;
- Core Lithium, which was given a start with an exploration grant from the former CLP government, has never been given major project status by NT Labor, despite being granted major project status by the previous Coalition Federal government;
- Of the 138 recommendations from the Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing (Pepper Report), the Minister is directly responsibility for implementing 64 recommendations, but has only achieved 42;
- The Mining and Industry department only has one overseas trade representative, who is based in Singapore; and
- Despite boasting a $61 million Mining Remediation Fund – to address the issue of identifying and rehabilitating legacy mines – only $1.4 million was spent in the last financial year, and the Minister could only identify two projects worthy of a $2 million commitment this year.
“This was an important opportunity for Minister Manison to outline her vision for our mining and petroleum industry, detail new policy initiatives to increase the attractiveness of the NT for critical private investment, and explain how she will accelerate the burdensome approvals process forced on industry by this inept Labor Government. The Minister failed on all fronts,” said Mr Edgington.
ENDS