Bills
Mining Amendment Bill 2025
Second reading
Resumed from 26 June.
Mrs Lorna Clarke (Butler) (1:26 pm): I rise this afternoon to speak on the Mining Amendment Bill 2025. I, along with many of my colleagues here on the Labor side of the benches, will always push for WA to remain the strongest economy in the nation and will always be supportive of the mining industry. We are able to remain the strongest economy in the nation because of WA's strong financial and budget management under the Cook Labor government.
Let us be clear, WA is one of the best places in the world to get a high-quality job and many of those high-quality jobs are in the mining and resources sectors. The Labor side will do everything it can, both legislatively and in terms of policy settings, for WA to remain a global leader in the resources industry. We will do this by not just supporting the resources and mining industry and creating regulatory certainty through bills like this, but also through diversifying our economy for the future. We will make WA a renewable energy powerhouse.
I have had some people say that part of the debate around net zero and mining just splits too far apart—that when we want to understand net zero, particularly in WA, we need to understand that the road to net zero actually passes right through WA's mining sector. We cannot get to net zero without the mining sector in WA transitioning to and developing renewables.
One of the things that I want to emphasise and will keep emphasising in this place is how the Cook Labor government is committed to making more things here in WA. I have said before in this place that Made in WA looks like a lot of tradies, but it also looks like a lot of FIFO workers. We can extend the freeway to Romeo Road, we can build the train line to Yanchep and we can also make sure that we plan for and have clear regulatory certainty when it comes to mining projects in WA.
There is one thing I find fascinating. I am not as into statistics as the Treasurer—I am more into words, having been trained as a lawyer—but I asked the Parliamentary Library to pull out the job statistics from my area. It is fascinating. We see a lot of FIFO workers on the trains, and a lot of people catching the train down from Yanchep to the CBD to work at MinRes, Rio, Woodside or BHP, but I actually looked at where everyone works in my electorate of Butler. If anyone wants to get their own electorate done, they did a fantastic pictorial graph for me of the highest rates of industry employment in the area based on statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
I knew that we had health care at the top of the list. I met so many nurses, physios and occupational therapists during the campaign that I knew that health was right up there. I knew that construction was up there as number two. I was not quite aware that retail trade was number three, so I depart slightly from the script to just give a big shout-out to the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association of WA and all the retail trade workers who live in my electorate. Close behind them is the mining sector. The mining sector in Butler is significant and members can see it around the place. People are clearly on their swings. They are picking up kids at 3:30 in the afternoon on their off-swings and they are catching FIFO transport—often at 3:00 am—down to the airports.
There are a lot of advertisements for transport down to the airport at 3:00 am. FIFO workers work really hard, and they deliver the resources and benefits from this sector that we see every day in WA. Thank you to the Parliamentary Library for the statistics and thank you to the FIFO workers who work in my electorate. Thank you to those who go out on the mines on their swings and work long hours in often high-risk environments. They do a fantastic job for WA, and I am really proud of them and proud to support them with this bill.
A greater percentage of persons in my electorate are employed in mining, about 8.9% compared with the WA average of 7.5%, and this has been increasing. Since 2016 and up to the last stats that I have here for 2021, this number has increased by almost a thousand workers. This bill really does go to the work that these people are doing on the ground. It really supports their work. It builds on their work, and it is crucial to the WA mining sector. We might look at this legislation and think: What does it actually achieve? It looks like minor procedural updates. But I do not think that at all. When we look back at the history of how this was developed and the High Court case that this bill is responding to in particular, we see that this is a crucial bill for maintaining regulatory certainty in the mining industry in WA, and that should never be underestimated.
One of the things I studied when I was in London at London School of Economics and Political Science was the concept of regulatory certainty. When I first started reading about it, I thought it could not be all that important, surely. Do companies really care much that there are stable governments in stable countries that they operate in? It turns out they really do. More and more companies that I speak and meet with on a regular basis are looking at getting overseas investment. They are looking at listing on the ASX, and they need regulatory certainty. They need to know what the rules of the game are, and that is pretty fair when it comes down to it. If we change the rules of the game suddenly or do not have a plan, like some of our colleagues opposite, for how these industries will develop over very long investment timeframes—if we look at gas, gas has incredibly long investment timeframes, sometimes up to 20 or 30 years—we will not get the investment in Australia and in particular in WA.
This legislation responds in particular to the High Court case called Forrest & Forrest Pty Ltd v Wilson and Ors. It was a fascinating case about an application for a mining lease. I remember looking at it years ago, so I cannot say I have read the case in full recently. Essentially, the High Court held that an application had to be accompanied by a mineralisation report. This was crucial. This very strict compliance with the Mining Act was crucial to the use of that government power basically. We could go through it in great detail, but I do not think I have the time today for the intricacies of that High Court case and how it went up through the Supreme Court. Essentially, it was a very strict application of the law. There is no criticism of that. Sometimes the courts will apply the law very strictly, and the Mining Act is one for which I did some work in the Warden's Court years ago where we triple-checked everything because we never wanted to get something slightly wrong. You never wanted to get the tenement number wrong because that would fundamentally affect your client's business.
The ruling was strictly applied, but I think part of what happened here is that we as the legislature come back and revisit this to ensure that it not only creates regulatory certainty for the mining industry but also is not so finicky and so detailed that one tiny slip of a number, such as a 5 rather than a 6, derails a whole project, along with all the work that has been put into it. The bill will make significant improvements in that sense. There are a number of different components to it that I may not have time to go through, but one of the things I want to acknowledge is that the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) put out a media release on 26 June 2025 and described the bill as a huge step forward that will see benefits across the mining and exploration industry. AMEC chief executive Warren Pearce said:
These might seem like minor amendments, but they go a long way to resolving long standing tenure issues. Certainty of mining and exploration tenure is the foundation on which WA's mining industry's success is built.
It goes on to state:
Mines & Petroleum Minister David Michael has moved swiftly to address the ramifications of—
Two particular cases—
Both of which has caused cost, uncertainty and threatened to erode Western Australia's investment attractiveness.
Therefore, with my remaining time, Deputy Speaker, I want to say that a WA Cook Labor government will always be supportive of the mining sector. We will always look at the law and see where in this space we need to have more regulatory certainty. We welcome greater investment in the mining sector because it creates local jobs. It is the driver of the WA economy and is, quite frankly, the driver of the nation. Those over east who fail to recognise that time and again do not really understand this state. Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I will allow other members whose electorates the mines are actually in to speak in more detail about this bill. It is so important that we back the economy in this way, and this work will give us the regulatory certainty that we need to do that.
Visitors
The Deputy Speaker: Member for Belmont, before I give you the call, can I just welcome, on behalf of the member for Dawesville, Ms Maxwell and the Glencoe Primary School leadership group. Welcome, everyone.
Proceeding resumed
Ms Cassie Rowe (Belmont—Parliamentary Secretary) (1:36 pm): Thank you, Deputy Speaker. It is my pleasure today to rise and make a few remarks on the Mining Amendment Bill 2025. I would like to start by acknowledging the work of the Minister for Mines and Petroleum in bringing this bill to this place, and no doubt his tireless team and all the advisers and the department as well for their work.
As a previous member who spoke has mentioned, I think we can all acknowledge in this place that it is absolutely patently clear that the mining industries are pivotal to our overall success as an economy, and I think the rest of the country is very slowly, as the former member acknowledged, coming around to recognising the important role we play in the national economy, and a large part of that is of course due to the mining industries. We are very lucky because our mineral endowment is one that is envied the world over. I will not go into the details of what has brought this bill about; the former member has gone through that. In my short time speaking, I would just like to acknowledge, I suppose, how this bill dovetails into some of the reforms that the Premier has highlighted in recent speeches and media releases.
One thing I would like to really drive home is that we cannot move towards decarbonising at scale without talking about it in the context of the mining industry and the critical role that it will play in this space. To underscore this reality, there are now legitimate efforts to consider the ways in which mining overburden and tailings can be reprocessed for their yields, which were previously seen as unattractive minerals. The ability for many of these now critical minerals alongside our historic output around mining to accelerate our globe's energy transition is for me a really exciting opportunity as we look to diversify our economy even further. It really places us here in this state in a unique opportunity to pivot into new sectors and new industries. However, it also burdens us, particularly in this place, with a unique responsibility to make sure that we govern in a responsible way and with future generations firmly in our minds.
The increasingly volatile geopolitical environment—I do not think that can be overstated enough—has been reverberating, and we have seen quite clearly in all our trading relationships—not just ours, but right across the globe and with those trading partners and indeed trading patterns—are really changing quite radically. This has also highlighted the increasing appetite to secure critical minerals, base metals and new sources of energy. As I mentioned, that is a really exciting opportunity our government has clearly identified and that we are looking to support and nurture.
Now more than ever, we are required to balance the needs of the energy transition with the ongoing custodianship of our natural environment. Indeed, it is something that we need to take seriously and we need to see fully the responsibility of that role. Our government is absolutely charting a path that is different from other jurisdictions, and it is why so much effort is going on not only with the minister, but also with the department and up at Dumas House. Certainly, I think it is across multiple cabinet portfolios. The modernisation and reforms that will occur as a result of this legislation are really important, whether that is from environmental assessment or planning and economic diversification points of view. I think all of that is contained within this bill.
In advance of this sitting week, the Premier, as I mentioned, highlighted the intention to bring forward a new act for this purpose. I am sure many of us will speak on the proposed state development bill, and I hope the opposition will support it as well. It is part of a suite of efforts, including the Mining Amendment Bill 2025, that look to attract and retain capital and investment here in WA, because we really are, truly, in a global race for capital right now, and that capital is looking for a home. As some members might be aware, I was formerly a financial planner. In the early days, we were able to act as a stockbroker and we were constantly providing updates. It was quite nerve-racking actually. I started my first job as a fully-fledged financial planner during the global financial crisis. It was a very stressful time and it really impressed upon me the need to have a very firm and stable legislative foundation for capital investment. Ultimately, what spooks markets is anything that is out of the ordinary and things that are unpredictable.
Also, as the previous member mentioned—it reminded me of my financial planning days—the real killer to investment is not having a stable, secure foundation within a government setting, because markets need that to thrive. I suppose the point I wanted to make is that the killer to attracting and retaining capital from an investment point of view is uncertainty, and that comes when there are inconsistent and constantly moving—changing goal posts as a member mentioned—policy settings and delays. We know that that can be really off-putting when we talk about major investments. Although this might be a fairly dry topic for some, it is really important because it drives our economy.
The minister has outlined already that the intent of the bill is to simplify a range of exploration and mining processes. Again, that is a real advantage. The bill will ensure that there is less red tape, basically. I know that term is well overused, but I think it is important that we acknowledge that less unnecessary red tape is certainly attractive when we are looking at business and capital investment. I think all of us in this house can acknowledge that when there are unnecessary or undue processes in place, whether it is for us personally when it is in our own personal banking, or on a much larger scale around mining tenements in Western Australia, it can be a real struggle. It is really about streamlining processes. This government, unlike any other previously, has a great track record of removing and simplifying processes.
The Deputy Speaker: Excuse me, member, just one second. Leader of the Opposition, would you mind if you have any conversations while there is a member on the floor, just to take it outside? Thank you.
Ms Cassie Rowe: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. As I was just saying, we have a great track record of removing unnecessary processes, essentially, if they are not providing better outcomes for industry. That is partly what this bill will do. I commend the minister for that.
It is really important that this bill before us is acknowledged as a pathway forward to the decarbonisation of our economy, and I would like to touch on some of the additional things we are looking at doing. The Premier, as I mentioned, has said that it is a real focus for us, and it speaks to the vision of our Premier and his excellent team. I think that potentially a lot of people could expect that there is going to be less energy in tackling the big issues when it comes to policy in our third term, but no-one can accuse the Premier of that if they just have a look at some of the things mentioned in the priorities document we as a caucus received last week. It was actually really exciting. You know, I am in my third term and I was very excited to look at some of the things that we are going to focus on. I would like to touch on a few because they are really important. I am going to start with one that is dear to my heart: protecting and restoring our environment—because there is no planet B, right?
I know it is funny to be talking about this when we are dealing with a mining bill, but, as I said, the mining industry is going to be a critical player in where we move to in terms of that energy transition and decarbonisation. I want to talk about how protecting our environment is a priority for our government. I think that is fantastic; it is really all about our future generations. What will they have to enjoy? We are being responsible in our efforts to make sure that business can continue to thrive in a really stable environment. We are a stable government and we provide stability to investment markets and to the mining sector, but we are balancing that out by making sure that it is not at the cost of the environment. We are making sure, every step of the way, that the consideration for future generations is also at the forefront of our minds.
As I have touched on quite a few times, we are looking at decarbonising our economy and supporting our trading partners to reduce emissions. That is very, very critical if we want to get towards zero emissions. We want to protect our oceans and our forests. If we look at what our Premier did in Exmouth on Friday last week, it was a fantastic announcement. We are protecting and restoring our river systems. The Swan River goes through my electorate. I am delighted to see that. We are increasing tree canopy coverage. Our tree rebate might seem like a small way to do this, but it is incredibly popular. In my community, we have one of the lowest rates of tree canopy coverage in the metropolitan area, so I really welcomed that announcement during the election. Reducing the impact of waste is something that cannot be overstated because like I said earlier, there is no planet B.
I cannot see the Whip. He is not winding me up yet, so I am going to keep going.
The Deputy Speaker: He is right behind you.
Ms Cassie Rowe: I have a few other things that I think are really interesting. Reading through some of the priorities here, they are not just motherhood statements. As I said, they are impressive. It is our third term and we are really going hell for leather to make some really great reforms.
Another interesting and exciting element is our focus around the diversification of our economy. Now this can sound a bit opaque. What does that actually mean? That means providing incentives for new industries. There was an announcement today. I was really pleased to hear Minister Sanderson. There is a huge amount of opportunity with the grants for new green industries. They will create new opportunities and, of course, Western Australian jobs. We are doing a great deal in that space, but we would not be able to do any of this without having strong financial footing and the budgets that we have been able to balance since getting in back in 2017. I recall very vividly when, as new members, we were told by the then Treasurer that the most important thing we could do is get the budget back in order, because we would not be able to do anything worthwhile without that, and it would underscore our future if we could make sure that we had a really strong budget surplus. Indeed, it proved fortuitous that he did that, because we all know what then happened. We went into the COVID-19 pandemic. The only way out of that was, of course, to stimulate the economy. We were able to do that very significantly and I would say better than many other parts of the country because we had a really strong financial footing, having been really prudent in those early years. It would have been so easy to get into government and want to put our mark on some vanity projects, but we did not. We put in the hard work and made sure we got the budget back into repair. We have done some excellent things and I think the proof is in the pudding. We are now a third-term government and the public has seen that we have been able to manage the budget effectively, done some really fantastic things and already transformed many elements of our economy.
One of the things that I am excited about, and I will finish on this particular element of our wonderful document, the priorities document, in terms of diversifying the economy, is around fostering a vibrant and creative economy. As Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Creative Industries, I was absolutely delighted to see that, because there is just so much opportunity in this space. Clearly, we have signalled to the industry that we take the creative industry very seriously. We are building a film studio, so we are putting our money where our mouth is. We all know that so many jobs are in—
Ms Sandra Brewer interjected.
Ms Cassie Rowe: I am not sure why that is funny, member.
It is fantastic that we are supporting the creative industries and making sure that people who want to pursue creative jobs do not have to go interstate to do that now, thanks to the great work that our government is doing in that space. We will continue to do that and I am really proud of everything that the Minister for Creative Industries is doing. There are so many grants and so many ways that we can support artists and we continue to do so. That will be a real legacy for our Labor government.
I will just circle back to the bill at hand around dealing with mining amendments. It is really important to my community because a lot of people who work in the mining industry live in Belmont, especially fly-in fly-out workers. I think a lot of them like to live in the area because of its proximity to the airport. As the previous speaker said, a lot of people are on the roads at 4:00 in the morning going out to the airport—poor things. A lot of locals are in that industry, so I know firsthand that this industry is keeping Western Australians afloat.
I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of the Australian Workers' Union. It has 13,000 members in this state. It has had phenomenal growth, thanks to its hardworking team led by Brad Gandy. It is a union that had to re-establish itself in the Pilbara. There was a period of nearly 20 years with no unions in the Pilbara. There is a correlation, I am sure, with the number of accidents and deaths in workplaces if a worksite is not unionised. In fact, research shows very clearly that a unionised worksite is a safer worksite. I think everybody in this place would agree that that is fundamentally important. We want workers to come home safely at the end of their shift, wherever they work. It should be celebrated that we have a union presence back in the Pilbara after a very long period without workers having a union voice, ensuring that they have better pay and safer conditions. I would like to congratulate it on its advocacy.
This bill, as I have said, provides for greater regulatory certainty. We are a stable government and we are providing stability in that space and a legislative framework for the mining sector to continue to flourish and thrive. On that, I conclude my remarks and commend the bill to the house. I congratulate the minister once again on this important bill.
Mr Ron Sao (Cannington) (1:55 pm): I rise to speak to the Mining Amendment Bill 2025. On a straight reading of the bill, it appears to be very technical and administrative. It adjusts procedural provisions of the Mining Act 1978, clarifies the rules around expiration and mining leases, and brings our system into the digital era. But behind those details lies an issue of profound importance: the confidence of Western Australia's resources sector, the jobs of tens of thousands of Western Australians and the security of families right across our state. The mining and resources sector is the backbone of Western Australia's economy. It is a sector that underwrites our state budget, sustains tens of thousands of jobs and provides the royalties that fund our hospitals, schools, roads and community services. In 2023–24, mineral and petroleum sales reached $238 billion. The industry supports over 135,000 full-time equivalent jobs. It contributed around $150 billion in direct expenditure nationally and $90 billion spent here in Western Australia, sustaining local businesses and contractors. More than 18,000 local businesses, 1,400 community organisations and 78 local governments benefited directly from resources spending in 2022–23. This is not just about industry, it is about families and communities. It is about small businesses in Kalgoorlie that supply mines, it is about cafe owners in Collie who service contractors and it is about children in Cannington who go to schools funded by royalties from our mining success.
Despite these strengths, the sector has faced legal uncertainty for years. The Forrest & Forrest Pty Ltd v Wilson and Ors decision in 2017 held that if a mining lease application was procedurally defective, even on a minor technicality, it could be declared invalid. That ruling sent shock waves through the industry. It meant billions of dollars in investment could be put at risk, not because of the merits of a project, but because of an administrative slip. Subsequent cases reinforced this strict approach. This uncertainty comes at a cost. It raises the risk profile of Western Australia, it delays projects and discourages exploration, and it undermines WA's reputation as a safe jurisdiction to invest in. If we allow that uncertainty to continue, we risk losing the very thing that sets us apart—our standing as a reliable world-class mining jurisdiction. When confidence falters, the ripple effects are felt in jobs, in small businesses and in the capacity of government to deliver for the community. The Mining Amendment Bill 2025 delivers clarity. It makes it clear that once a licence or lease is granted, it cannot be struck down on trivial technical grounds. It strengthens the indivisibility of tenure, giving certainty to explorers, miners and investors. It also modernises the system, allowing areas to be excised from exploration applications, updating expenditure and exemption provisions, enabling digital lodgement and the rollout of resources online, creating a smoother pathway for approvals while maintaining accountability. These reforms clarify tenure, security, expenditure reporting and application processes, providing greater operational certainty for exploration and mining companies.
The bill will also allow for specific areas to be excised from exploration licence applications, a move that addresses both administrative delays and stakeholder conflicts. The legislation also refines how exemption applications are handled, creating a more uniform interpretation across the responsible agency. Additionally, it modernises legal terminology and removes outdated clauses.
Debate interrupted, pursuant to standing orders.
(Continued at a later stage of the sitting.)
