- Restoring confidence in Australia’s minerals sector regulation
- Cultural heritage protections can’t be exploited by taxpayer-funded anti-mining activists
- Responsible mining and heritage protection not mutually exclusive.
Today’s Federal Court decision setting aside the Commonwealth’s 2024 cultural heritage declaration affecting Regis Resources’ McPhillamys Gold Project in New South Wales helps to restore confidence in Australia’s regulatory processes and the integrity of decisions supporting Australia’s ability to be a magnet for major mining investment.
Regis Resources secured NSW and Commonwealth environmental approvals following extensive assessment and engagement with the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, which is recognised as the local Aboriginal representative body.
The subsequent late-stage intervention by the Commonwealth put more than $1 billion in proposed investment at risk and raised serious questions about the reliability of Australia’s approvals framework.
Australian mining investment relies on certainty of process, even if the outcomes of that process are not certain.
Support for responsible mining and protecting Aboriginal cultural heritage are not competing or mutually exclusive objectives.
Both depend on transparent decision-making, credible evidence and meaningful recognition of the appropriate Traditional Owner representatives.
The McPhillamys experience has exposed significant weaknesses in how competing claims to cultural authority are considered, particularly where the views of recognised local Aboriginal leaders and Elders differ from those without recognised spiritual connection to Country.
Cultural heritage protections must not be exploited by taxpayer-funded anti-mining activist organisations, including the Environmental Defenders Office, to undermine legitimate Aboriginal representation and obstruct responsible development.
The livelihoods of regional communities, Aboriginal businesses and workers depend on a balanced framework that genuinely protects cultural heritage, respects the voices of Traditional Owners and gives investors confidence that projects will be considered under established regulatory processes.
The MCA will continue to work with the Federal Government, the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance and others to address the weaknesses exposed by the Federal Court today.
