Audio Excerpt - Regis Resources CEO Jim Beyer:

“Thanks everyone for joining us today. Unfortunately this is a call that we have to have, it’s a very disappointing day for us. For those that don't know, my name is Jim Beyer.”

RUBY:

It’s been a bad few weeks for Jim Beyer, the CEO of Australia’s third largest gold miner Regis Resources.

He’s had to tell investors that a billion dollar project could be dead and millions of dollars wasted.

Audio Excerpt - Regis Resources CEO Jim Beyer:

“And we're here to provide a briefing on the surprising, and disappointing, Section 10 declaration made by the Federal Minister for Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, on Friday morning in relation to McPhillamys.”

RUBY:

The plans for a gold mine in New South Wales had been through all the approvals and the boxes had been ticked.

But then came the decision from the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, to intervene on the behalf of a group of traditional owners.

Audio Excerpt - Wiradyuri Traditional Owner Speaker:

“ATSIHP have called us and they’ve informed us that another section that we are part of, for the Galari songlines which is the Belubula headwaters, is now protected under Section 10.” [applause]

RUBY:

The industry, the coalition, and parts of the media are all furious, some even suggesting that cultural heritage laws are being “hijacked” by green groups.

So, is that true?

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From Schwartz Media, I’m Ruby Jones, this is 7am.

Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Mike Seccombe, on Tanya Plibersek, the gold mine, and who gets a say when it comes to mining projects.

It’s Thursday, August 29.

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RUBY:

So, Mike, let's start with this planned $1 billion gold mine. Tell me about the project and who's behind it.

MIKE:

Right. Well, actually, it's more than a $1 billion project, that was just what they thought they were going to make in profit out of it. So the project was going to be near Bathurst in regional New South Wales, just west of Bathurst. It was proposed to be an open cut gold mine called the McPhillamys Gold Project. And it was being developed by a company called Regis Resources, which is Australia's third biggest, I think, gold miner.

Audio Excerpt - McPhillamys Mining Promotional Video Speaker 1:

“Every community needs new industry to keep the town growing.”

Audio Excerpt - McPhillamys Mining Promotional Video Speaker 2:

“McPhillamys would bring jobs and attract people and attract families to the community.”

MIKE:

Regis Resources claimed the project would have supported about 580 full time jobs during construction and 290 odd jobs when it was in production.

Audio Excerpt - McPhillamys Mining Promotional Video Speaker 3:

“To not have to leave the town.”

Audio Excerpt - McPhillamys Mining Promotional Video Speaker 4:

“It’ll increase our house prices, keep the builders busy, keep the electricians busy…”

MIKE:

They would extract up to 60 million tonnes of ore, and from that they would get two million ounces of gold. So um, so it was a pretty big deal. Would have delivered $200 million in royalties to the New South Wales government, and, and the planning had been going on for seven years, something like that. Community consultation, I think they might have dealt with something like 23 different community groups, including indigenous groups, preparation of environmental impact statements, all that sort of stuff. Finally, it was ticked off by the New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry, and Environment and then it was referred to the State's Independent Planning Commission and they ticked it off, and it was granted approval under the federal Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act. To all intents and purposes, the mine proponents thought at that point it was a goer.

And then, this month, at the very last minute that was all unravelled when the federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, intervened.

RUBY:

Right. Okay, so we have this mine all set to go ahead. Approvals ticked off, consultation done and these jobs expected. Then the minister intervened. So what did Tanya Plibersek do?

MIKE:

Well it goes back a few years before she said no.

There was an application for protection for the entire area of the mine made in 2021 on behalf of a quite small group of traditional owners called the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation.

And two weeks ago, Plibersek approved their application. She didn't actually protect all the mine site on cultural heritage grounds, so, of the full 2500 hectare site, she protected a much smaller part of roughly 400 hectares. It so happens, though, that that protected area covers virtually the entire planned tailings dam and Regis Resources says that's crucial to the whole operation. No tailings dam, no mine. So the whole thing's stopped.

RUBY:

Right. So the mining company is saying as a result of this decision, the mine will no longer go ahead.

MIKE:

Well, they're not quite killing it off. I've been parsing the words fairly carefully, “currently unviable” were the words used by Regis Resources CEO Jim Beyer. But still, it looks like, it looks like hundreds of millions of dollars down the gurgler. I mean, even if they were to try and revive it they would presumably have to go back to the drawing board, right? Because, their tailings dam has been ruled out. I might add, Plibersek reckons they can find another site for the tailings dam. The company at this stage says they can't. So we've got a standoff.

Audio Excerpt - Regis Resources CEO Jim Beyer:

“We don't have a site for a tailings dam. So it makes it pretty hard to go forward with the project without that…”

MIKE:

Beyer gave this quite bolshy, I think you would say, briefing to his investors where he said.

Audio Excerpt - Regis Resources CEO Jim Beyer:

“Regis considers the Section 10 Declaration shatters any confidence the development proponents Australia wide both private and public can have. In project approval, timelines and outcomes.”

MIKE:

And he went on, the implications of this decision are not limited to the resource industry...

Audio Excerpt - Regis Resources CEO Jim Beyer:

“But also developers of infrastructure, renewable energy, property, as well as tourism operators, farmers and owners of freehold land more generally.”

MIKE:

The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, which is one of the peak bodies for the extractive industry, it came in firmly behind Regis, and they raised the old spectre of sovereign risk and saying that investors would lose confidence in investing in Australia.

Audio Excerpt - Representative of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies:

“Understandably, after this and some other resources projects being blocked because of indigenous heritage claims, the mining industry is worried about the sovereign risk of trying to invest in this country.”

MIKE:

The heads of the Minerals Council of Australia and the Business Council of Australia, among others, weighed in as well and got stuck into the regulatory system.

Their complaints were amplified through, you know, the reporting in, in various media. Most notably, you know, the Murdoch papers, the conservative papers and Kerry Stokes’ West Australian paper, The West Australian. And, you know, there was, I guess you would say, the usual intemperate commentary by right wing pundits about, you know, approvals process is being hijacked by green groups and so on.

Audio Excerpt - Sky News Peta Credlin:

“Now, make no mistake, this is economic suicide because this is a government that's putting its faith in green ideology rather than the industries that have long been the foundation of our prosperity.”

Audio Excerpt - Sky News Commentator 1:

“Someone who identifies as an elder has told the minister she can hear the ancestors and next, boom, the mine is blocked. I mean, that seems to be what it is. It is baseless and farcical.”

Audio Excerpt - Sky News Commentator 2:

“How she can sleep at night worries me, but maybe she's got voices in her ear. Because, you know, she's had these secret voices, these people who claim to be from this win, wherajury, what is it called? Wiradyuri? Wiradyuri clan. Yeah, how you know this is sacred...”

MIKE:

I think you could say that there was more than the usual amount of blowback on this decision, right? This decision was also roundly attacked by the federal opposition.

Audio Excerpt - David Littleproud:

“If a business wants to come and actually do a development, we have that data that understands the impact on environment, then I think it's now time for us to put time limits on approvals.”

MIKE:

So I think it's fair to say that the level of complaint about this decision went well beyond the usual griping, you know, of the resources sector and its, you know, media and political advocates. This was the full court press.

So it was an unusual reaction. But then, this was also an unusual case.

RUBY:

What do you mean by that, Mike? What makes this case unusual?

MIKE:

Well, Plibersek is the Minister for the Environment, right? But her decision was not, specifically about protecting the natural environment. It was about Aboriginal Cultural Heritage. And the decision was made, you know, under Section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act. That's never been used by Plibersek before. I think she has knocked back several, but she'd never approved one before. So it's a very rarely used section of the law.

RUBY:

Okay, so what we have then is, at the very last minute, the environment minister making a decision that's not about the environment. Should we believe that that is the case? Is it credible that this decision is actually not environmentally related?

MIKE:

Well, there are claims out there particularly by the industry, that these Section 10 claims, these Aboriginal Heritage claims, are being used as a kind of backdoor way to achieve environmental outcomes. That, you know, Plibersek was really about protecting the environment in this area, which happens to be the headwaters of a fairly significant river.

Audio Excerpt - Tanya Plibersek:

“Yep, and it relates to cultural heritage. The protection of cultural heritage under imminent threat of destruction.”

Audio Excerpt - Mike Seccombe interview:

“Right, no I understand...”

MIKE:

So I spoke to Tanya Plibersek about this and she firmly rejected any suggestion that her decision, that protected the headwaters in the springs associated with this river, was taken out of environmental concern.

Audio Excerpt - Tanya Plibersek:

“No, I mean the decision completely relates to cultural heritage protection and um...”

MIKE:

But yes, they were environment groups also opposed to this project. There was the Belubula, that's the name of the river, Headwaters Protection Group, for instance. They were worried about the potential impact on the river system because, you know, the waste water from gold mining is notoriously toxic, and tailings dams are notoriously prone to mishap. It's interesting also that the Environmental Defenders Office provided legal representation both to the indigenous group and to the environmental group that were opposed to it and campaigned for public donations to help fund the fight. So, you know, it's interesting that Plibersek insists it's entirely about cultural issues, but pretty clearly there's a big overlay of environmental activism in there as well.

RUBY:

After the break, the claims that the Heritage Protection Act is being hijacked.

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RUBY:

So, Mike, Tanya Plibersek, she's used the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act in this case, in this decision relating to a New South Wales gold mine, and you say that decision is unusual. In fact, it's the first time that she's actually granted protection under that act. So could you just tell me a little bit more about Section 10 and what it's designed to do?

MIKE:

Right. Well, the mining industry has complained for several years that applications made under this particular section of the act are proliferating. And they have a, dare I say, a reasonable case to make. And while mines are the most common target, you know, they do also affect other developments, as Beyer alluded to in his briefing the other day to his investors.

There was a report by the law firm Ashurst a couple of years ago that found that the number of applications had been trending up since about 2019 and that there had been an unprecedented number, was what they described it as, in the 12 months up until mid 2022 when the report came out. And they went through and they detailed quite a number of these Section 10 applications, and they related to a very wide range of proposed developments. And, you know, among them was roadworks near Cooroy in Queensland; underground power lines near Kempsey in New South Wales; a residential housing development in Jindabyne in New South Wales and, the one that I thought was most interesting, which was a wind farm on Robins Island in Tasmania.

So, it highlights an interesting internal conflict, I guess, within the green movement that in this particular case they have, they have made common cause with an indigenous group to knock over what, at one level, looks like an environmentally positive project, i.e. a wind farm.

RUBY:

Okay, and so you said earlier that there is this concern that Section 10 might be being used by people with one agenda, whether that is environmental or perhaps otherwise, to try and block a project that they don't agree with. Is that the problem here, Mike? That's something that's designed to be used to only protect indigenous heritage sites can potentially be used in these other ways.

MIKE:

Well, yes. And, you know, I don't want to be mistaken for some rabid right winger here. I mean, I note that when Plibersek made this decision, the federal opposition shadow minister of resources, Senator Susan McDonald, came out and accused the Labor government of encouraging anti-mining activists to use, you know, these cultural considerations for their own purposes. She called a death by stealth and said that genuine concerns were being weaponised.

There's a degree of hyperbole on both sides here, I think, but particularly on the conservative side. And, you know, even worse was Senator Jacinta Price, who gave some comments to The Nightly, which is a sort of pro-mining new newspaper established in Western Australia by a number of mining billionaires including Kerry Stokes and Gina Rinehart, the headline on the story was Regis Resources, Jacinta Nampajinpa Price fumes over fake Indigenous Australians after New South Wales gold mine shafted.

And in her quotes to the newspaper, she said that she had spoken to genuine Wiradyuri people and that a lot of people who are claiming to be indigenous in fact weren't.

Now, this was an outrageous insinuation, absolutely outrageous. There's no evidence of that at all. But there is, I think, a legitimate question here, which is who speaks for indigenous interests and on whose behalf they speak? You know, in the case of this gold mine, there was this local group, but there was also a land council, the local land council, which had no problem with the mine whatsoever. So we have competing indigenous factions, one pro-development and one anti-development. And to date, we've seen anti-development First Nations groups making common cause with environment groups. Those actions tend to be celebrated by progressives, but it could be a two edged sword.

You know, there's no reason why right wing groups could not use Section 10 claims. You know, for example, the anti-climate change people could quite easily move to stop, you know, wind farms, solar developments on the basis of Aboriginal heritage concerns. So, you know, this is a two edged sword that can cut left and right I guess is my argument here.

RUBY:

Okay. So when you look at how this process unfolded then, particularly in regards to to this mine in New South Wales if we come back to that, and the arguments being made around the Heritage Protection Act being weaponised I mean, to what extent do you think that those arguments are exaggerated? Or do you think that there is a case to be made here that the entire approvals process needs change, needs to be reformed?

MIKE:

Well, I think you’ve put your finger on it there. I mean, obviously you have to take consideration of the environment and, and of the cultural implications for indigenous folk. You know, that has to be part of the process. I think the overarching problem here is that the process is so bloody long that it goes seven years, in this case of this particular mine, and then at the last minute it's knocked over.

When I spoke to Plibersek about that she said, absolutely correct. You know, the process takes a very long time. The current government is moving to try and expedite matters as best it can.

Audio Excerpt - Mike Seccombe interview:

“And would that necessarily expedite claims of this kind, Section 10 claims?”

Audio Excerpt - Tanya Plibersek:

“Well, one of the proposals we have is a new national standard for First Nations consultation which would make it clear much earlier in the piece who the right people are to talk to.”

MIKE:

And I think that is probably the answer here. It's not a problem with the fact that this section exists, it's the fact that it can be cited quite late in the piece and can bring things to a grinding halt right at the very end.

RUBY:

Mike, thank you so much for your time.

MIKE:

Thank you.

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RUBY:

Also in the news today,

Greens leader Adam Bandt wants to see big business taxed at 40%. Speaking at the National Press Club, Bandt singled out fossil fuel companies as the types of multinationals that made, quote, “obscene profits and should be giving more back to the public.”

Bandt called it a “Robin Hood” tax, meanwhile the Minerals Council of Australia, the leading advocate for Australia’s oil and gas companies, called it “economic sabotage”.

And, inflation is finally coming down with the RBA announcing the July rate at 3.5%, down from 3.8% in June.

The ABS says electricity rebates driving down energy prices have helped curb inflation this month, but economists say the drop is unlikely to result in an interest rate cut.

I’m Ruby Jones, this is 7am, thanks for listening.

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