Bob Day (SA, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

Or Bunbury. We have already had a B in WA!

Why are these amendments to the provisions of the bill concerning greenfields projects so important? In my discussions with my colleagues, many acknowledged that there is a major problem in job creation regarding greenfields sites around Australia. Here are some data proving that Senator Cameron is wrong and that Australia does have a problem with the conditions for greenfields projects. First, the data shows that the costs of greenfields exploration are now six times higher than they are for brownfields exploration. In 2014-15, exploration expenditure per metre drilled on new greenfield deposits was nearly $700 per metre compared with just one $110 per metre on existing brownfields deposits. The cost differential between greenfields and brownfields exploration has never been higher. The differential or the gap between greenfields projects and brownfields projects is getting higher and higher. In 2014, greenfield exploration accounted for just one-quarter of total metres drilled.

What is all this saying? It is saying that we have a problem with greenfields projects, where, suddenly, you will have to adopt an EBA from somewhere else across Australia. That EBA will not take into account local circumstances. Like I say, whether it is Busselton, Bunbury or Broome in WA; Berri in South Australia; Bendigo in Victoria—