Showing posts with label mining industry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mining industry. Show all posts

Tuesday 16 February 2021

NSW Deputy Premier & Nationals MP for Monaro John Barilaro proves once again that he doesn't understand that mining & overdevelopment has marked downsides for communities in north-east NSW


On 3 February 2021 NSW Deputy Premier, Minister for Regional New South Wales, Nationals MP for Monaro and apologist for unrestrained land clearing, logging of our remaining native forests, barely regulated urban development and mining in sensitive water catchments, John Barilaro, relaunched the government’s three-year-old 20-Year Economic Vision for Regional NSW at Sanctus Brewing Company, in Townsend in the Lower Clarence Valley.


Now that so-called economic vision for the North Coast originally relied heavily on expansion & diversification of tourism and agriculture – but with Barilaro’s ‘vision refresh’ of this 20-year plan he is now pushing the barrow for his mineral ore mining, coal seam gas drilling, native timber logging and land developing mates.


Under the guise of a state government response to the CVOVID-19 pandemic the push to overturn the moratorium on coal seam gas mining in the Northern Rivers region from the Clarence Valley up to the NSW-Qld border no longer talks of “gasfields” but hides the intent behind the terms “resources for regions” and the stealthy push to divert Clarence River catchment water is secreted behind the term “water security” and a Mole River dam.


Last year north-east NSW discovered one of the legislative mechanisms Barilaro plans to use to lay waste to this region and it wasn't pretty - involving as it does the possible extinction of a unique Australian species, the Koala.


His speech of 3 February 2021 confirms he still intends to lay waste.



Clarence Valley Independent, 10 February 2021:

Deputy Premier John Barilaro kindly allowed the Independent to ask two questions before he adjourned to the media wall, where the press corps awaited.


GH: In November 2020, Clarence Valley Council resolved to, and I quote, “oppose mining in the Clarence River catchment [and] … seek the support of both state and federal governments, to impose a moratorium on further mining exploration licences and to cancel existing licences”, largely due to the threat it poses to the Clarence River (the lifeblood of the valley’s key industries, tourism, agricultural and fishing): how will the NSW Government protect the valley’s tourism, fishing and agricultural sectors from any potential mining disaster if the government continues encouraging miners to explore for minerals that will be in demand as we transfer towards renewable energy?


JB: If you were listening to what I said earlier, that is going to happen naturally. We’ve always had coexistence with mining, agriculture [and] our coastal and environmental habitats – we’ve always done this, protect the environment and find ways to do it. The whole mining world is going to change in time; we’ll go with that. We’ve identified where coal mining will continue in this state; other areas have been ruled out. It was our party that ruled out coal seam gas.


GH: The minerals of interest in the Clarence Valley are those you spoke about regarding renewables.


JB: And it’s very possible, but you talk about mining in a way that it is bad, that it can’t be done in a safe way. So my answer is we’ll continue to do what we’ve always done: work with the communities, work with the mining sector and make sure that we only mine in areas we are comfortable with.


GH: But I said it was Clarence Valley Council that made the [no mining decision] decision.


JB: Sorry, I missed that.


GH: And soon there will be a 10,000-plus signature petition tabled in parliament on the issue, from local people.


NOTE: Mr Barilaro made no comment regarding the petition.


GH: You also talked about keeping kids in the community. Your ‘Economic Vision for Regional NSW’ emphasises moving more people into the regions, however, yesterday’s ABS figures show there has been a record amount of city to region migration. This, in turn, has exponentially increased property prices (as MC Mat Moran alluded to in his speech), which, in turn, increases the cost of rental properties. Given that people in the regions earn substantially less than their city counterparts, how will the government address the property market imbalance as cashed-up city dwellers purchase properties and make it harder to find affordable accommodation or purchase property in certain regions?


JB: With property comes jobs, with industry comes jobs. You want to attract more people into the regions; councils have got to unlock more Greenfield sites, more supply, to put downward pressure on prices. What we’ll do and have always done…. And I’ve been speaking with the planning minister about his work with local government, about the supply side of the development arm of residential property. The reality here is we want to see the future of the regions grow; to do that you have to attract the people to the regions. Otherwise, government services are cut, or government services are not invested in – this is the fine balance. I’m not going to limit the opportunities for the regions because we have an issue around the price of property, when we know we can resolve that through more Greenfield sites. Again, good planning gives better outcomes.


GH: So it’s a long-term strategy?


JB: Yes, long-term, thank you.


Sunday 13 December 2020

Around the Northern Rivers in December 2020

 

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On 7 December 2020 Development Application SUB2020/0038 (Lot 104 DP 751388) lodged by Robert Donges (a former Maclean and Clarence Valley council officer) on behalf of Kahuna No. 1 Pty Ltd was withdrawn while still within the Clarence Valley Council public exhibition period.


The development application included 336 residential lots, four drainage reserves, one commercial lot and one public reserve in what is essentially a high density configuration along James Creek Rd, James Creek.


IMAGE: Clarence Valley Independent

Withdrawal was hardly surprising given the lack of transport and other infrastructure which would be needed to be in place for a potential village-sized population of at least 840 people, as well as storm water and environmental concerns.


The owner of this lot has submitted a request to Clarence Valley Council that the unspent portion of application fees which it sets at $20,000. As council policy will only allow return of up to 50 per cent of an application fee (being $11,415.00 in this case) the matter is going to council’s ordinary monthly meeting on 15 December 2020.


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In August 2020 Maclean High School announced it was starting a cattle and livestock showing team, under the guidance of Primary Industries Teacher, Christopher Kirkland. Last month Maclean students took part in the Northern Schools Prime Steer Show at Glen Innes, NSW. I'm sure that experience will set them up for success in 2021.


Maclean High School – Cattle and Livestock Showing Team 2020


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The Maclean Agricultural Show was cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the Maclean Show Society will be given $10,000 from the federal government towards its 2021 show to held on 20 to 21 April next year. The Clarence Pastoral & Agricultural Society Ltd will receive $17,682.68 towards its 2021 agricultural show.


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From 1 March 2021 Clarence Valley travellers will be able to connect through to Melbourne as part of Regional Express’ expansion on the back of the collapse of other regional airlines due to the COVID-19 pandemic’ From March Rex will begin flying nine return flights from Sydney to Melbourne and travellers boarding from Grafton Airport will be able to connect straight through, with baggage checked to their destination.


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Yaegl woman Pauline Clague has been awarded this year’s $20,000 Natalie Miller Fellowship. She is the 9th recipient of this fellowship and the first Indigenous person. 


The Natalie Miller Fellowship (NMF) supports the professional leadership of aspirational women in all sectors of the Australian screen industry; developing further skills, knowledge and connections through fellowships and programs. Its vision is to achieve gender diversity in screen leadership, resulting in a greater breadth of storytelling, better company performances, innovation, and a more dynamic, inclusive and robust industry for everyone.


Well-known as a producer of documentaries and short stories, Pauline has at least 16 films to her credit.


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It appears that Lismore City Council and Rous County Council wrote to the NSW Berejiklian Government encouraging the development of a $220 million 50 giglitre second dam on Rocky Creek to the south-west of the existing dam, before the dam proposal went to puclic exhibition for community input. Many local residents are not amused by this discovery. The proposed dam is supposed to supply four local government areas.


IMAGE: https://rous.myglobe.app/bulk-water



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Clarence Valley Independent, 9 December 2020:


Greg Clancy: “…if [mining companies] spend millions on exploration then they expect [to mine] … we need to speak out strongly against all mining proposals.”


Andrew Baker: “…to turn our back on any potential mining at this stage is doing the community a disservice.


We should, rather than just accept there are concerned people in the community … we should be fully informed before making these decisions.


“…we should find out where council and councillors fit within our sphere of influence and not give people false hope that we can extinguish mining licences.”


Arthur Lysaught: “I think it was three years ago when Greg gave me the Greens [position] … but I said at the time, if I ever thought someone would affect the river, I would stand beside him to preserve the most pristine river in the country, maybe the world.


The unfortunate part of this; whatever stance we take, others make the decision.”


Peter Ellem: “Yes and the greed merchants will continue to have a crack, whether to harvest dam water or reopen a mining industry through exploration.


The end result is they want to mine … and with the government supporting one company [with an exploration grant], we have to be ever watchful to protect our river catchment and [associated] industries [like] tourism and recreation.


“…just like damming the Clarence and CSG mining, this kind of mining is not appropriate here and there should be a moratorium.”


Karen Toms: “We have an amazing river … but I am concerned because I heard what our state MP [Chris Gulaptis] has said.


The general manager is right, we need to have a position … but 10,000 signatures … well done to the community to start rallying.


We are here to represent our people … we are the responsible authority for our water so we do have some skin in the game.


Tell them [mining companies] … to bugger off.


It’s important send a strong message to the state and federal governments and the miners: leave our water alone.”


Deborah Novak: “A lot of people out there are scared to step up … but this is where they have come together [to gather 10,000 signatures].


It’s important for the state and federal governments to see that the [petition organisers] are professional … and really amazing and it’s the young people who have stepped up.”


Greg Clancy (right of reply): “Over 10,000 signatures suggest that this is not only the concerns of a few people.


“…despite covid, the groups have worked very hard; I commend the Clarence Catchment Alliance and the Clarence Environment Centre … all working hard on this issue to make the general public aware.


“…it’s scientific, it’s facts about what we know mining does to river systems.


We only need one accident and there goes the entire river.


It’s not a case of not having mining anywhere, but it has to be in areas of minimal impact.”


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Echo Net Daily, December 2020:


Lismore MP Janelle Saffin has blown the whistle on the government after obtaining a ‘damning’ NSW Department of Education School Profile of Murwillumbah High School, the proposed site of the mega campus, which shows major capital works are badly needed there.


Making cost savings by shelving replacement or maintenance of buildings at four public schools appears to be the main driver of the NSW government’s agenda for its mega Murwillumbah Education Campus, says Ms Saffin.


These four public schools – Murwillumbah High, Wollumbin High, Murwillumbah East Public and Murwillumbah Public – all have their own well-established traditions of academic, sporting and cultural excellence,’ Ms Saffin said.


Ms Saffin has invited NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell MLC to come to Murwillumbah early next year to meet with the four Parents & Citizens Associations and other representatives of students, teachers and staff, and the local community.


Our school communities deserve to hear from Minister Mitchell what the evidence-based educational benefits to Murwillumbah’s primary and secondary school students are of the government’s plan to merge them into one “mega” campus by 2024.


However, the evidence is mounting that the Department has dragged the chain on capital works and maintenance at Murwillumbah High and Murwillumbah East Public School, badly affected by the 2017 floods, and the Department’s fix is to close four schools and replace them with a centralised American model.’……


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Tuesday 20 October 2020

Australian Coal exports will continue at high levels, but the latest World Energy Outlook forecasts a big transition to renewables in the next two decades.

 

ABC News, 19 October 2020:


Demand for Australian thermal coal has peaked, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), and renewables will deliver 80 per cent of the world's energy needs in the next few years.


During the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia has been saved by its mineral exports, especially iron ore and coal.


Exports are worth $70 billion and they have doubled in the past decade.


But the IEA's report said the global economic slump caused by the pandemic would cause a fall in demand for energy, with oil and coal the hardest hit.


Co-author of the report Tim Gould said while demand for energy was expected to rebound when the pandemic was brought under control, demand for coal was not expected to recover with it.


"Energy demand is set to fall by 5 per cent this year, the largest shock in 70 years," he said…..


In New South Wales mining corporations do not appear to accept the inevitability of King Coal's decline.


This is a snapshot of coal mining leases (red), coal assessment leases (yellow), coal exploration licenses (dark blue) and coal exploration applications (light blue), stretching from the Illawarra region in the south to the New England region in the north of the state as of 20 October 2020.

Image: MinView


Friday 17 July 2020

Will U.K. based multinational mining corporation Rio Tinto Ltd be stripped of its status as a human rights leader following its destruction of an Aboriginal sacred site showing evidence of 46,000 years of human habitation?


"The fact that nearly half of the companies assessed (49%) score 0 across all indicators related to the process of human rights due diligence is particularly alarming. These indicators focus on the specific systems the company has in place to ensure that due diligence processes are implemented to assess the real-time risks to human rights that the company poses, to act on these findings so as to prevent and mitigate the impacts, and to track and communicate those actions. Human rights due diligence is a fundamental expectation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). The three companies that top the 2019 ranking (Adidas, Rio Tinto and Unilever) all score full points on the human rights due diligence indicators...Eleven [of the 56 extractive] companies score above 50%, with Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Freeport McMoRan and Repsol in the highest scoring band of 70-80%" [Corporate Human Rights Benchmark 2019 Key Findings]

The New York Times, 8 July 2020:

MELBOURNE — Aboriginal and human rights groups on Thursday called for miner Rio Tinto Ltd to be stripped of its status as a human rights leader following its destruction of an Aboriginal sacred site showing evidence of 46,000 years of human habitation. 

With state government approval, the world's biggest iron ore miner in May destroyed two sacred caves in the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia as part of a mine expansion. 

 Rio's response to blowing up the caves was "far from adequate", 35 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and human rights groups said in a letter requesting the miner be suspended from the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB). 

Netherlands-based CHRB is a public benchmark of corporate human rights performance. 

It lists Rio as the highest ranked extractives company globally on human rights issues, with a score in the second highest possible band.  

"We are calling on the Benchmark to ensure that the company's human rights ranking reflects the reality for people here on the ground," said Wayne Bergmann, a Kimberley Aboriginal leader and chief executive of Aboriginal charitable trust KRED. 

Rio apologised for the distress it caused to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people and launched an independent investigation into how the destruction occurred.

Thursday's letter disputed Rio's explanation of the incident as a "misunderstanding", saying that the indigenous land owners had brought to Rio's attention on several occasions the archaeological and ethnographic significance of the site. 

Rio declined to comment on the letter......

Prior to the November release of its Corporate Human Rights Benchmark 2020 CHRB issued this:

Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB), media release, 9 July 2020: 

Due to the destruction of a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal heritage site by Rio Tinto at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia on 24 May 2020, the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) and the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) have decided to append this statement to Rio Tinto’s latest CHRB results. 

It would be inappropriate for CHRB to continue to assess and rank Rio Tinto in one of the highest-scoring bands and as the top mining company without reference to this incident. 

The CHRB seeks to provide robust and credible information on companies’ actions to respect human rights across their business, and it would be misleading not to reference this severe impact as a complement to the latest results. 

The statement appears in the homepage banding table, in the company's latest scorecard and in the latest overall dataset.

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"It would be inappropriate for CHRB to continue to assess and rank Rio Tinto in one of the highest-scoring bands and as the top mining company without reference to this incident....The severity of the impact and the context in which it took place, including the process that led to it and allegations of other similar impacts involving the company, raise concerns that go beyond this specific incident and point to possibly more systemic weaknesses in the company’s approach to human rights." [CHRB response to the destruction of a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal heritage site by RioTinto at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia on 24 May 2020]

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Hopefully this statement means that Rio Tinto Ltd will get more than a small red flag next to its ranking with a brief one line explanation for ongoing human rights issues, such as was afforded to another extractive industry high flyer, BHP Billiton.

BACKGROUND

ABC News, 5 June 2020:

Mining giant Rio Tinto was alerted six years ago that at least one of the caves it blasted in Western Australia's Pilbara region last month was of "the highest archaeological significance in Australia".  

Advice delivered to Rio Tinto and the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) Indigenous people of the region six years ago was never publicly released. The ABC has been given a summary of the contents of the report, as well as earlier archaeological survey work and excavations at the sites dating back to 2004. 

The documentation of the 2014 report by archaeologist Dr Michael Slack confirmed one of the sites that was blasted, the Juukan-2 (Brock-21) cave, was rare in Australia and unique in the Pilbara. 

"The site was found to contain a cultural sequence spanning over 40,000 years, with a high frequency of flaked stone artefacts, rare abundance of faunal remains, unique stone tools, preserved human hair and with sediment containing a pollen record charting thousands of years of environmental changes," 

Dr Slack wrote. "In many of these respects, the site is the only one in the Pilbara to contain such aspects of material culture and provide a likely strong connection through DNA analysis to the contemporary traditional owners of such old Pleistocene antiquity."....

Before and After
Juukan Gorge caves, BBC News, 31 May 2020

Monday 30 March 2020

Lock the Gate & Knitting Nannas Against Gas sound a warning over Berejiklian Government's sly move to take advantage of the current pandemic in order to further coal and gas industry interests


Knitting Nannas Against Gas, Fossil Fools Bulletin, 25 March 2020:

NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes’ push for the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) to proceed with public hearings during the covid-19 pandemic is has alarmed groups opposed to the Narrabri gasfield and the Vickery coal mine.

Stokes has instructed the IPC to continue with public hearings during the coronavirus crisis.

Lock the Gate NSW spokesperso Georgina Woods said people could not be expected to fully engage in the assessment process of major resource projects during a health crisis.

She called on the Berejiklian Government to suspend the IPC assessments of Narrabri and Vickery until the pandemic was over.

It is deeply disturbing Planning Minister Rob Stokes expects the
Independent Planning Commission to press ahead with a public hearing for controversial projects like the Narrabri gasfield and Vickery coal mine in the context of a global pandemic,” she said.

People will miss having say on projects

The Covid-19 outbreak is upending the lives of people globally and New South Wales is no exception.

People are frightened, and understandably so – the last thing many want to do is gather publicly, or miss out on their opportunity to have their say on these highly damaging projects.

The Planning Minister cannot possibly expect the Commission can
adequately or fairly undertake public consultation in this context.

People in rural New South Wales have limited internet capacity and in towns and cities we are bracing for further disruption while we put all our efforts into limiting the spread of this virus.

The Planning Minister needs to put public health and basic fairness first and allow the IPC to suspend its consideration of the Narrabri gasfield and Vickery coal mine until the pandemic has passed and people are able to fully participate, as is our right.”


Wednesday 25 March 2020

Quarry Solutions fined $15,000 for operating without an environment protection licence at Woodburn

Woodburn quarry site
https://seegroup.com.au/woodburn-quarry/

NSW EPA, media release, 20 Marxh 2020: 

Quarry Solutions fined for operating without environment protection licence

The Environment Protection Authority has fined North Coast company Quarry Solutions Pty Ltd $15,000 for allegedly operating without an environment protection licence. 

Director Regulatory Operations, Regional North Karen Marler said that records obtained by the NSW EPA indicate that Quarry Solutions allegedly extracted more material than is permitted without a licence at the Doonbah Quarry near Woodburn and Evans Head in 2018. 

“Quarry Solutions hold eight extractive activity licences with the EPA for works at other quarries and are therefore aware of licensing requirements. Furthermore, they were issued two Official Cautions in 2016 for the same offence. 

“While no environmental harm was caused by the company’s actions, it is important to obtain a licence to ensure environmental safeguards can be maintained and to ensure there is a level playing field for quarry operators,” Mrs Marler said. 

Quarry Solutions now has an environment protection licence in place for works at the Doonbah Quarry. 

In considering its regulatory approach the EPA took into account factors including that Quarry Solutions cooperated with the EPA and that no environmental harm occurred and also that the company had received two Official Cautions for the same offence. 

Quarries can extract smaller amounts up to 30,000 tonnes that produce lower potential environmental impacts without needing a licence. 

For more information about the EPA’s regulatory tools, see the EPA Compliance Policy at www.epa.nsw.gov.au/legislation/prosguid.htm

NOTE:

Quarry Solutions, part of the family-owned SEE Group, is a specialised quarrying and construction materials production company. Since 2008 it has owned and operated quarries under various arrangements in northern New South Wales and south east Queensland.

Friday 15 November 2019

How the world sees Australia's response to climate change


It seems it isn't just our Pacific island neighbours or other members of the United Nations which view Australia as a nation governed by backward environmental vandals intent on destroying their own country.....

https://youtu.be/m6DO3zbD83U


Channel 4 News is made for Channel 4 by Independent Television Network Ltd. Channel 4 is a publicly-owned and commercially-funded UK public service broadcaster.

It is reported that Channel 4 has a monthly audience reach of est. 79% of all UK television viewers.

This is the gist of a 13 minute news segment aired in Britain on 12 November 2019 and, which had over 17 million views on YouTube:

Despite briefly boasting more than 50% renewable power generation on its national grid this year, Australia is struggling to move on from an energy, labour and political market built on a 1950s coal-based model. (Subscribe: https://bit.ly/C4_News_Subscribe) Even as eastern Australia is consumed by flames after years of drought, the New South Wales parliament is today trying to push through a law to stop proposed coal mines from having to examine the carbon impact of the coal they’re exporting. And they’re exporting a lot. Australia's coal export market is the most lucrative on the planet, valued at £36 billion. Three people have been killed, over 150 homes destroyed, Sydney faces ‘catastrophic’ conditions, and at least 45 of the 65 fires burning through the region are out of control. Yet when Australian Green MPs suggest the industry is on the wrong side of history, they get called 'raving loonies’ by the Deputy Prime Minister. Australia is now among the very worst G20 keepers of promises made in the Paris Climate Accord. It plans seven giant new opencast pits for Queensland, even as the bush to the east is incinerated by drought caused by climate change, caused by carbon emission caused - in part - by coal.

UPDATE

The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 November 2019:

Sweden's central bank has sold off bonds from parts of Australia and the oil-rich Canadian province of Alberta because it felt that greenhouse gas emissions in both countries were too high.
Riksbank Deputy Governor Martin Floden said on Wednesday the bank would no longer invest in assets from issuers with a large climate footprint, even if the yields were high.

Sunday 3 November 2019

Meet some of Meet Scott Morrsison's "indulgent" environmental "anarchists" as they sing about 200 weeks of continuous protest


Terrifying bunch aren't they? One can just see they have molotov cocktails in their back pockets and are planning violent chaos. 

Scott Morrison is such a fool.  

Friday 25 October 2019

A few facts about the NSW Minerals Council and how it operates as an industry lobbyist in 2019


Stephen John Galilee is currently Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NSW Minerals Council, a private sector lobby group for the mining industry with less than 100 members – not all of which are directly engaged in mining activities.

The council conducts public and policy advocacy on behalf of the mining sector, with a staff of 15 full-time equivalent employees – 6 of whom are primarily engaged in work on policy and 5 or 6 engaged in public advocacy, communications & media activity.

Stephen Galilee’s previous employment was as chief of staff to then Liberal MP for Manly Mike Baird when he was Treasurer in the O’Farrell Coalition Government and, before that he was employed as chief of staff to Liberal MP for Groom Ian Mcfarlane when he was Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources.

On 21 October Galilee gave evidence under oath before a NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into lobbying practises in this state.

During his evidence Galilee confirmed that the NSW Minerals Council:
  • income is derived from annual membership fees which are set at a percentage or proportion of the value of members commodity production;
  • annual revenue is between est. $4 million to $8 million;
  • is an associate member of the Minerals Council of Australia;
  • meets with government officials “on a regular basis” and such meeting are sometimes with government ministers;
  • probably has face-to-face meetings with between four or five individual ministers at some point during the year which include council policy directors and/or the CEO;
  • has a “regular engagement with the Deputy Premier in his capacity as Minister for Resources”;
  • requests to see ministers are generally submitted by letter to their chiefs of staff (with reasons given), then followed up with a ‘phone call;
  • shadow ministers are also lobbied on occasion;
  • CEO has met with between 8 and 10 NSW Government ministers over the last 2 to 3 years and with 10 to 15 ministerial chiefs of staff. These often involve follow up meetings with ministers' offices, departments or specific policy personnel;
  • meets with the Resources Regulator and Environmental Protection Authority “every couple of months” and with the Dept of Planning’s Division of Resources and Geoscience “every two or three months”;
  • in the past four years has made “around 150 public submissions in response to government proposals for changes to legislation, policy or regulations”;
  • at the moment is regularly engaging with the Department of Planning concerning planning system issues, in particular provisions in the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act;
  • does not use the official form required since 2017 to request meetings with the Dept. of Planning;
  • has meetings with the Dept. of Planning which are not minuted;
  • CEO does not keep records of meeting he attends - often his record comprises only diary entry of meeting date and "three dot points on a piece of paper" to aid memory;
  • current focus in relation to policy advocacy regarding planning system issues is to reduce financial risk for mining/commodity investors which has been spurred on by United Wambo determination, Bylong Project decision and actions of the Independent Planning Commission;
  • is currently "running a public campaign against the Planning Minister and his planning system".
  • states that the government departments “take a lot of industry money to deliver services for us. So we like to make sure those services are being delivered...”; and
  • holds "a lot of functions and events for the industry and we invite local MPs, for example, to attend and ministers and shadow ministers from time to time come along to our functions and events".
[https://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/investigations/current-investigations/2019/lobbying-and-the-nsw-public-sector-operation-eclipse/the-regulation-of-lobbying-access-and-influence-in-nsw-a-chance-to-have-your-say-april-2019]


The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment apparently considers the NSW Minerals Council an organisation containing 'inhouse' lobbyists not a third party lobbyist and therefore doesn't record contact with this group in its Lobbyist Contact Register to date.

Based on the evidence given  on 21 October, it is possible that there may have been times when no other person has been present at a meeting between a NSW Minister and the NSW Minerals Council.

It is also clear from the evidence that the NSW Minerals Council would be unhappy with any new legislation or regulations requiring a greater degree of transparency with regard to its lobbying activities.

At the same time the NSW Minerals Council does not appear to always trust that public officials and public authorities make decisions on cogent evidence in a balanced, detached, informative way - blaming public interest advocacy and "noisy objectors" for what it perceives as skewing outcomes.

As it now stands the NSW Minerals Council as a lobbyist group seems to be minimally regulated with regard to its activities.

BACKGROUND

NSW Minerals Council membership on its official website as of 23 October 2019:
Full Members
Anchor Resources Limited
Australian Pacific Coal Limited
BHP

Bengalla Mining Company Pty Ltd
The Bloomfield Group

Centennial Coal Company Ltd
Chase Mining Limited.
Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd
China Molybdenum Co
Clean Teq
Evolution Mining
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd
Glencore Coal (NSW) Pty Limited

Gloucester Resources Ltd
Great Southern Energy Pty Ltd T/A Delta Coal
Heron Resources Limited
Hillgrove Mines Pty Ltd
Idemitsu Australia Resources Pty Ltd
Iluka Resources Pty Ltd
Kepco Bylong Australia Pty Ltd
Mach Energy Australia Pty Ltd

Newcrest Mining - Cadia Valley Operations
New South Resources Pty Ltd
Omya Australia Pty Ltd
Peabody Energy Australia
Regis Resources Limited
South 32 Illawarra Coal Holdings
Shenhua Watermark Coal Pty Limited
Shoalhaven Coal Pty Ltd
Silver Mines Ltd
Thiess Pty Ltd
Whitehaven Coal Limited
Wollongong Coal Limited
Wyong Areas Coal Joint Venture
Yancoal Australia Limited

Associate Members

Ampcontrol Pty Ltd
ARTC - Australian Rail Track Corporation
Ashurst
Aurizon Holdings LTD

B Marheine Holdings Ltd
Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation
Civeo Pty Ltd
Coal Services Pty Ltd
ElectraNet
Emeco International Pty Ltd
EMM Consulting
EMS Group Pty Ltd
Genesee & Wyoming Australia Pty Ltd

Gold and Copper Resources Pty Limited
Golden Cross Resources Ltd
Helix Resources Ltd
Herbert Smith Freehills
Hunter Business Chamber 
Hughes Mining Services
Hansen Bailey Pty Ltd
Jervois Mining Limited
Sydney Mining Club
Jennmar Australia
Johnson Winter Slattery

Geos Mining
McCullough Robertson
Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd
MRS Services Group Pty Ltd
NuCoal Resources Ltd
NSW Aboriginal Land Council
Niche Environment & Heritage
Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group
Orica Australia Pty Ltd
Pacific National Pty Ltd
Paradigm Resources Pty Ltd
Peel Mining Ltd 
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Port Waratah Coal Services Limited
Hetherington Exploration and Mining Title Services Pty Ltd

Hughes Mining Services
Rangott Mineral Exploration Pty Ltd

Quarry Mining & Construction Equipment P/L
Rimfire Pacific Mining NL
Resource Strategies Pty Ltd
RW Corkery and Company

Sapphire Resources
Seyfarth Shaw Australia
Silver City Minerals Limited
Sparke Helmore Lawyers
UNSW Mining Engineering
TAFE NSW
Thomson Resources Ltd
Umwelt (Australia) Pty Limited
University of Wollongong
XCoal Energy and Resources