Opposition Leader Shane Love has demanded the Premier stand up for Western Australia’s resources sector against threatened Federal Government green and red tape being strung across mining projects in the State.
Mr Love said with Federal Cabinet in town, the Premier needs to ensure his Federal colleagues are acutely aware of concerns held by the sector.
“The mining sector is worth $230 billion and supports more than 150,000 local jobs, yet projects which could advance our State are under threat by green-tape and policy duplication,” Mr Love said.
“With Federal Cabinet in town, this is the time for the Premier to show he is on the resource industry’s side and voice their concerns about the increased bureaucracy.”
Mr Love said the number one threat was recent call ins by Tanya Plibersek and the muted establishment of a new national Environment Protection Authority, which would increase uncertainty and costs for industry, lengthen approval timelines, and threaten future developments.
“This is compounded by proposed Federal cultural heritage legislation gaining momentum, which come on top of the soon-to-be introduced regulations under the State Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act,” he said.
“This doubling of hurdles the sector will have to jump through is causing uncertainty for the industry, by putting both future jobs and future investment at risk.
“WA needs to be at the centre of decisions that impact our industry, and these recent changes could have the opposite effect.
“The Premier needs to make sure economically vital projects across our State are not held back by layers of repeat approvals.”
Mr Love said when the Premier addresses the Albanese Cabinet in Port Hedland this week, better processes around mining approvals and expanding the sector must be top of the agenda.
“It’s all well and good for the Prime Minister to visit our State, but the Premier needs to make sure that Mr Albanese and his Cabinet genuinely understand the concerns of the industry which drives exports, jobs, and our nation’s economy.
