Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) Rehabilitation on Christmas Island is undertaken by the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, through its Parks Australia Division. CIP has undertaken rehabilitation works in the past but is not currently doing so.

CIP's rehabilitation obligations are set out in its Mining Lease dated 4 August 1997 and Appendices, including the Environmental Management Plan 1996 (currently being updated). These include the following requirements:

Payment of a conservation levy to be used by Parks Australia for the purpose of minesite rehabilitation. (Mining Lease clause 4.1)

Allow the Commonwealth access to the Leased Land to enable rehabilitation or to inspect rehabilitation work carried out by CIP (Mining Lease clause 9.2 and 9.3)

Retain sufficient backfill material to be used by the Commonwealth and the Lessees for rehabilitation. Backfill material shall be C Grade phosphate rock. (Mining Lease clause 12.1)

Review rehabilitation plans and sufficiency of stockpiles of backfill material annually. (Mining Lease clause 12.2)

Provide machinery and equipment not required for current mining operations, with operators, for carrying out rehabilitation work for the Commonwealth at reasonable arms-length commercial rates. (Mining Lease clause 13)

Parks Australia's rehabilitation work is undertaken in accordance with the Christmas Island Minesite to Forest Rehabilitation Program. Since the beginning of this program in 1989 Parks Australia has been rehabilitating approximately 10-15 hectares per year. The focus of the program is to restore tropical rainforest, and to protect Abbott's booby nesting sites (Abbott's booby is an endangered seabird that nests in the canopy of Christmas Island rainforest and nowhere else).

(2) Mine completion criteria is not specified in CIP's mining lease or environmental management plan. However, the Director of National Parks has recently finalised with the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport (which administers the mining lease) a Christmas Island Mine site to Forest Rehabilitation Plan 2012-2020. Additionally, an eight year Memorandum of Understanding (for 2012-2020) has been negotiated by the Director of National Parks and the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport to complement the 2012-2020 rehabilitation plan.

(3) No.

(4) Under the current lease, CIP is able to apply for an extension to the lease if new markets or technology makes further mining viable. The department is unaware whether CIP intends to apply for such an extension. Mine closure planning and community consultation would form part of any lease renegotiation.

(5) The Mining Rehabilitation Fund Bill 2012 (WA) is currently undergoing Western Australian Parliamentary process. The department has not been advised how this legislation will apply to CIP.

(6) The Attorney-General's Department (then responsible for administration of the lease) in 2008 commissioned a report on the extent of possible rehabilitation of mined areas, based on the availability of soil for rehabilitation and current rehabilitation methods. This report found that a further 235 ha of previously degraded land would be able to rehabilitated.

Historical phosphate mining accounts for most of the currently disturbed areas and CIP is not obliged to rehabilitate all of these areas. Apart from its obligation to pay a conservation levy for rehabilitation, CIP has in the past carried out some rehabilitation itself. The company commissioned an assessment of its minesite revegetation activities in 2009. Between 2001 and 2008 CIP rehabilitated 26.22 ha including pinnacle fields (6 totalling 19.44 ha), stockpile bases (4 totalling 5.64 ha) and a chalk pit (1.14 ha).