Nat Barr questioned Tanya Plibersek over her decision to issue an Indigenous Heritage Protection Order in relation to a $1 billion gold mine in New South Wales.
Regis Resources, the company behind the project near Blayney in central-west New South Wales, insists it could take a decade to get it back on track.
The Environment Minister had issued the protection order rejecting the proposed site for a tailings dam at the mine in mid-August.
The Wiradjuri Central West Aboriginal Traditional Owners Corporation called on the Minister to protect the headwaters and springs of the Belubula River as a central site for creation stories.
This is despite the mine originally being approved by the NSW Independent Planning Commission in March 2023, a process that involved consultation with the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, the elected body for local Indigenous leaders.
Roy Ah-See, a representative of the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, said Ms Plibersek’s decision undermined the council’s recognised authority.
“Not all Aboriginal people are environmentalists, we advocate for the economic empowerment of our people,” said Ah-See.
“Our children want to be part of the economic base of future generations.”
A war of words broke out on Sunrise on Monday morning after Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek issued an Indigenous Heritage Protection Order over a proposed $1 billion gold mine in New South Wales.
The issue was raised on Sunrise on Monday morning, where former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce criticised Plibersek’s decision to issue the order as “absurd”.
“The company warned the government in June that a decision like this would put an end to the project. It was advised not to give that order that the tailings dam could not be placed there. Why did it ignore that advice?” Barr asked Ms Plibersek.
Ms. Plibersek responded:“It’s a 2,500 hectare site and I said they couldn’t put a waste dump on 400 hectares of the site,” Plibersek said.
‘The company told us that they have looked at four different sites and 30 different designs for the tailings dam and I’m sure that if there is $7 billion in “There is gold in the ground, as they say, it is in their interest to find a new place for the tailings dam.”
Barr noted that the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority said the impact on the Belubula River would be “minimal”.
‘According to the company, three of the other four sites are in the declared area you are talking about. The fourth site would apparently have more impact than this one.
“So where do you suggest the tailings dam might be?” the Sunrise presenter asked.
Ms Plibersek then said it was not up to her to design the project.
“The company said it would take another five to 10 years to get a site,” Barr said.
“That’s nonsense,” Mrs. Plibersek interrupted.
“Since I came into office, I’ve doubled the number of on-time approvals. I recently approved a project in nine weeks because it was in the right location and had the right environmental protections, and we can do that quickly if the project is designed properly.”
Regis Resources, the company behind the project near Blayney in central-west New South Wales, insists it could take a decade to get it back on track.
Earlier in the interview, Mr Joyce had criticised Ms Plibersek for halting the gold mine.
“This arbitrary blocking of issues that threaten the economic prosperity of our nation, as happened in Blayney with the gold mine, cannot be allowed,” he said.
“Once an arbitrary decision is made that makes no sense, that makes no sense, that has no basis and seems as if it was pulled out of thin air for the benefit of a lobby group rather than for the benefit of the local community.”
Regis CEO Jim Beyer previously said the order made the project unfeasible because alternative sites for the tailings dam were also within the exclusion area.
“We have a big task ahead of us to understand what the alternative is to the tailings facility,” Beyer told reporters in Orange last week.
It would take years to complete the geotechnical drilling and environmental studies needed to identify a new location, he said.
“At this point we’re not sure exactly what direction we can take,” he said.
“We will study it because it is a worthwhile project, but we don’t know how long it will last. It could be five or ten years.”
Regis executives have met with several NSW government ministers to consider possible ways forward.
Premier Chris Minns said the company should be able to “move on” and submit a new development application without having to restart the lengthy planning process.
“The planning system in New South Wales is too complex, too difficult, too long and has too many hurdles for people to jump through,” Minns told the conference.
“We told the company, ‘We don’t want you to start at stage one.'”