WHILE the number of active Native Title claims has fallen, there is a real danger they could skyrocket soon.
WHILE the number of active Native Title claims has fallen, there is a real danger they could skyrocket soon.
Minter Ellison consultant John Clarke said the number of active claims in WA had fallen from 325 in September 1998 to 192 in June 1999.
“There are worrying signs, however, that such figures could go up again,” Mr Clarke said. “Initial results from new registration tests revealed a few anomalies, overlapping claims and amalgamations.
“It is still too early to know if the registration test is going to prove effective in the longer term in dealing with overlapping and ambit claims.”
Chamber of Minerals and Energy executive officer of Aboriginal affairs Tanya Heaslip said there were nearly 12,000 mining titles “stuck in the system, with some bogged down for up to four years.”
She said 600 to 800 mining titles had been granted each year prior to the introduction of the Native Title Act in 1995 and only about 350 have been granted in the four years since.
“In the first quarter of this year, trend exploration fell by $15.4 million in WA alone. Since June 1997, it fell by $56 million,” Ms Heaslip said.
“Half of WA’s geologists are currently out of work as a result.
“We’ve tried to impress the plight of the industry on Geoff Gallop but he remains unmoved.”
Premier Richard Court said the Labor Party could not “turn their backs on the mining industry”.
“They can’t blame everyone else or falling commodity prices,” Mr Court said. “Their opposition to workable state-based native title laws needs to change for the sake of much needed investment and jobs.
“The lifeblood of the exploration industry are the small prospectors and unworkable Native Title processes are denying them access to land.
“The end result is they explore in countries where it is easiest.”
Deputy Labor leader Eric Ripper said Minister for Mines Norman Moore revealed there are currently 3,210 separate mining title applications awaiting negotiation with native title parties and mining companies.
Five case managers have been allocated within the Department of Mines and Energy to deal with the backlog. Mining companies have identified 1,080 as a priority, yet only 245 are being currently negotiated.
“If the Court government genuinely wanted to speed up granting of mining leases and exploration lic-ences, it would quadruple the number of case managers,” Mr Ripper said.
“The figures reveal that at 30 June, 614 exploration licence applications which had completed Mining Act processes had not even been submitted by the State Government for NTA consideration.”
Mr Clark said alternative state or territory regimes would be more equitable than the NTA and would enable a more streamlined process.
“WA doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. However, the State Government is negotiating with the Commonwealth for a low impact exploration exclusion process and exploration licences subject to certain restrictive use conditions.”
Minter Ellison consultant John Clarke said the number of active claims in WA had fallen from 325 in September 1998 to 192 in June 1999.
“There are worrying signs, however, that such figures could go up again,” Mr Clarke said. “Initial results from new registration tests revealed a few anomalies, overlapping claims and amalgamations.
“It is still too early to know if the registration test is going to prove effective in the longer term in dealing with overlapping and ambit claims.”
Chamber of Minerals and Energy executive officer of Aboriginal affairs Tanya Heaslip said there were nearly 12,000 mining titles “stuck in the system, with some bogged down for up to four years.”
She said 600 to 800 mining titles had been granted each year prior to the introduction of the Native Title Act in 1995 and only about 350 have been granted in the four years since.
“In the first quarter of this year, trend exploration fell by $15.4 million in WA alone. Since June 1997, it fell by $56 million,” Ms Heaslip said.
“Half of WA’s geologists are currently out of work as a result.
“We’ve tried to impress the plight of the industry on Geoff Gallop but he remains unmoved.”
Premier Richard Court said the Labor Party could not “turn their backs on the mining industry”.
“They can’t blame everyone else or falling commodity prices,” Mr Court said. “Their opposition to workable state-based native title laws needs to change for the sake of much needed investment and jobs.
“The lifeblood of the exploration industry are the small prospectors and unworkable Native Title processes are denying them access to land.
“The end result is they explore in countries where it is easiest.”
Deputy Labor leader Eric Ripper said Minister for Mines Norman Moore revealed there are currently 3,210 separate mining title applications awaiting negotiation with native title parties and mining companies.
Five case managers have been allocated within the Department of Mines and Energy to deal with the backlog. Mining companies have identified 1,080 as a priority, yet only 245 are being currently negotiated.
“If the Court government genuinely wanted to speed up granting of mining leases and exploration lic-ences, it would quadruple the number of case managers,” Mr Ripper said.
“The figures reveal that at 30 June, 614 exploration licence applications which had completed Mining Act processes had not even been submitted by the State Government for NTA consideration.”
Mr Clark said alternative state or territory regimes would be more equitable than the NTA and would enable a more streamlined process.
“WA doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. However, the State Government is negotiating with the Commonwealth for a low impact exploration exclusion process and exploration licences subject to certain restrictive use conditions.”
