Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (NT, Country Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Hansard source

Minister Tanya Plibersek's disastrous blocking of the Regis Resources proposed goldmine at Blayney—in short, she is of the belief that the construction of a tailings dam for the project would violate Indigenous cultural heritage in the area. That has now been made an unviable project. Accordingly, it will, along with the actions of Robert Tickner in the 1990s, in the infamous Hindmarsh Island bridge case, go down as one of the worst cultural heritage decisions ever made by a federal minister in Australia's history. It's an embarrassment, to be quite honest. As the shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, I find it utterly embarrassing when Indigenous Australians are used as poor excuses for blocking such projects in such a manner.

It's of course important to note that Minister Plibersek's decision flew in the face of over seven years of compliance by the company, with a multitude of environmental and cultural heritage processes and obligations. Seven years! Just like that, with the stroke of a pen, it's brought crashing down. As part of this, Regis commissioned 15 separate extensive cultural heritage surveys. They also engaged in exhaustive and detailed consultations with at least 13 registered Aboriginal parties. But it only takes one to pull the linchpin and make everything come crashing down During that long, arduous and onerous journey, Regis successfully cleared every state and federal environmental requirement they were forced to meet—despite the confected outrage. They also satisfied, yes, the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, the body with local Indigenous authority under New South Wales law. The Orange land council reached the very clear conclusion that the construction of the tailings dam and the broader mine would not adversely impact any significant Aboriginal sites or artefacts. What's the point of having them there if they're not even going to be listened to?

Regis's proposal also has the full backing of the New South Wales Labor government, led by Premier Chris Minns. Perhaps Minister Plibersek should listen to her own colleagues and to the Premier, Chris Minns, himself, because he clearly could see the opportunity this would produce for the local community and Australia more broadly. Among many other recent comments that have portrayed his disappointment and frustration with Ms Plibersek's actions, Premier Minns, on 28 August, said that the state's Independent Planning Commission's decision to allow the McPhillamys goldmine project to proceed was comprehensive and that it was also based, significantly, on the advice of the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council. He said, 'And, under those circumstances, I think the correct judgement was made.' If he is suggesting that the correct judgement was made then evidently Minister Plibersek's judgement was completely off. But for reasons known only to her—like, literally—Minister Plibersek thought she knew better than all of this, including the Premier of New South Wales. Seven years after the project was first conceived, and nearly four years after the Indigenous cultural heritage application was lodged, the minister swept in, at the equivalent of five minutes to midnight, to say that the proposed site for Regis's tailings dam was too culturally sensitive to be used.

If we don't sort this out now, this issue will raise its head over and over again. This bill must be supported so that we can continue to allow projects that will ensure jobs are available to communities, including Indigenous members of those communities. Minister Plibersek chose to bypass—