Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Hansard source

Minister Plibersek, thank you for the correction. By denying the release of details, she is showing a significant lack of transparency.

Just recently she blocked a request of an OPD by Senator Duniam. It's not good enough. This government was elected promising to be different, to be more open, to be more transparent. What we have now is a government of non-disclosure agreements, hidden consultations and absolutely no transparency in their decisions, particularly in a decision that is overriding other federal and state processes. Organisations that have no legally recognised authority over an area should not have the final say on nationally significant projects worth billions of dollars to the Australian economy over and above the transparent, robust federal and state processes that had already occurred. Advice from an authority not legally recognised cannot be viewed when it directly contradicts that received by every other organisation.

A question I would ask of the minister is: what makes the word of 17 people more important than the word of the legally recognised Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, more important than the departmentally appointed cultural auditor, more important than the state Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessments and more important than the EPBC process?

The New South Wales Labor government was right to condemn this decision. Premier Chris Minns was right to call the decision to block the mine a 'mistake'. He was right to call for the decision to be overturned. My friend and colleague—and the now Nationals candidate for Calare—Sam Farraway was right, in his role as an MLC in the New South Wales parliament, to move a motion calling upon the New South Wales Labor government to work to revoke the federal government's decision.

The Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation is closely involved with the hostile activism of the Environmental Defenders Office, which receives about $15 million of funding from the Albanese government. So our own government is funding an organisation that regularly takes court action against the government—that gets itself involved in dispute issues like this, that is absolutely anti-mining, anti-productivity and anti-process. We've recently seen press announcements from the EDO that they've now set up a whole team to get involved in cultural and heritage issues to block projects such as the Blayney McPhillamys goldmine. They are using and, in my opinion, abusing Aboriginal and cultural heritage issues for their own goals.

The coalition condemns the use of taxpayers' money to fund nefarious and far-left activism and lawfare such as this, and in particular, cases such as Blayney. The claims being made by the Wiradyuri have been called out by the former chair of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council Roy Ah-See, who has said that such issues like this are making a mockery out of the native title process.

The Minerals Council of Australia have similarly expressed disappointment with the minister's decision and how it negatively affects Indigenous Australians. They point out that in 2022 alone, the Australian mining sector involved nearly 500 Indigenous businesses, spending upwards of $1 billion and directly employing over 5,200 Indigenous Australians, representative of six per cent of the total workforce. The Minerals Council have said, 'These are highly skilled, well-paid jobs that contribute directly to the government's Closing the Gap outcomes.' But that won't happen at Blayney now. That won't happen because this minister has decided that 17 people can override the wellbeing of the broader community. The coalition believes that, to achieve real outcomes for communities, we need to back initiatives that will help the economy, support local jobs and create industry incentives. On this principle, the coalition vows to reinstate the mine under a Dutton-Littleproud government. Because on top of the $1 billion in investment, this project would have generated a thousand local jobs and provided more than $200 million in royalties for the New South Wales government. Make no mistake about it, Minister Plibersek's decision to terminate the Blayney goldmine is not just a billion-dollar loss to the Australian economy; it is akin to national sabotage.

I have heard time and time again from others in the resources sector that they are now rethinking how much they invest in Australia because this decision undermines any level of certainty they could have had through our very long and very onerous approvals processes. Prior to this decision, while no knowing that we have long and robust processes, there was a level of confidence in the system. Post this decision, that confidence has blown away, because now they recognise they can jump through every hoop that is put before them and get every tick that they need, only to have it all ripped away on the word of a handful of people who have decided they don't like the project for some reason and who probably have the backing of this new EDO team of cultural and environmental experts. Consider how many billions of dollars will never enter this country because this government has created such hostile conditions for investors.

This Labor government should be ashamed of this decision. The Prime Minister should show leadership in this matter and demand that the environment minister reinstate the mine. I know the minister has defended her decision to invoke section 10 and put a stop to the mine by suggesting the action only applies to the tailings dam, but people see through that as an excuse. People understand it takes time for mines and other large industrial projects to receive approval, and the minister has admitted as such more recently. She knew, because she was warned, that even a partial section 10 determination would make this entire project unviable and she went ahead and did so anyway, based on the word of a handful of people about a Dreamtime story that other Aboriginal organisations in the region claim they've never heard of.

This Albanese Labor government should be ashamed of itself and the damage it has caused, particularly the damage to our international reputation. They have knowingly opened a Pandora's box during a cost-of-living crisis, when this country needs important investments, when we need to start investing in productivity instead of public servants. For the sake of regional Australia, the coalition calls on the government to overturn this decision.