Analysis: The political fallout has continued from Tanya Plibersek’s shock ruling against a tailings dam at Regis Resources’ McPhillamys gold project in NSW, formally revealed on Monday.
Analysis: The political fallout has continued from Tanya Plibersek’s shock ruling against a tailings dam at Regis Resources’ McPhillamys gold project in NSW, formally revealed on Monday.
The decision by Ms Plibersek to block the construction of a tailings facility near Blayney was revealed on Friday, but the picture became clearer on Monday when Regis confirmed it was the party at the centre of the controversial call.
McPhillamys had all required state and federal environmental approvals in place before the minister’s intervention: a factor trumpeted by Regis management at the Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum at the beginning of August.
The project had also been subject to a Section 10 application under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act.
With the support of the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council - characterised by the miner and others in the area as the recognised Indigenous representative for the region - and having consulted 13 Indigenous representative groups, Regis appeared confident at the event that the Section 10 application would go its way.
The minister’s decision scuppered that work.
The Section 10 application against the tailings dam was made by the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation on the basis of songlines, which the group said connected to a sacred site on Wahluu-Mount Panorama, which was protected in 2021.
The application was lodged by Wiradjuri elder Nyree Reynolds, a tutor at the University of New South Wales Indigenous Law Centre, the same year.
Regis's work was also opposed by the Environmental Defenders Office: the partially government-funded independent body at the heart of an ultimately unsuccessful challenge against Santos’ Barossa project in the Northern Territory, which ended last year.
The EDO had in 2023 led an appeal against the project to NSW’s Independent Planning Commission on behalf of local farmers.
Right-leaning politicians and industry groups have since accused it of orchestrating the Section 10 appeal, under cultural heritage laws. The validy of that claim was unconfirmed at the time of writing.
The EDO, which last publicly commented on its attempts to stop the project in March of 2023, has been contacted for comment.
In her statement on Friday, Ms Plibersek said the headwaters of the Belubula River had significant spiritual and cultural connections to the Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people of the area.
“They have featured in many traditions practised for generations including by Aboriginal people transitioning from youth to young adulthood,” she said
“Some of these traditions have been disclosed to me privately and must remain confidential due to their cultural sensitivity.
“If this site were to be desecrated, it would be a threat to the continuance of Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri culture.
“Because I accept that the headwaters of the Belubula River are of particular significance to the Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people in accordance with their tradition, I have decided to protect them.”
The minister claimed the decision was not to stop the mine, and that the company had assessed four sites with 30 potential options for its tailings dam.
“Crucially, my decision is not to stop the mine,” Ms Plibersek said.
“The company has indicated to me that it has assessed around four sites and thirty potential options for the tailings dam.
“Protecting cultural heritage and development are not mutually exclusive. We can have both.”
Regis disputed that claim and told an investor call that the billion-dollar project – where it hoped to take a final investment decision in 2026 – was effectively dead in the water.
With its financials scheduled for release tomorrow, Regis has revisited the $190 million carrying value of McPhillamys and is reconsidering any further spend on a project that has been worked up to definitive feasibility study level over 12 years.
Regis managing director Jim Beyer is also the president of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, and warned of the worrying precedent the ministerial intervention could create.
“I think what this has done, and unfortunately we’re the poster child if you like, but unfortunately this has highlighted what is potentially going to be a growing issue for the industry,” he said on Monday.
“It can happen to anybody that’s got a plan to start, is under construction or in operation.
“It is quite significant and concerning.”
The world responds
Political backlash has come thick and fast in the halls of federal parliament, where debate has raged over the call and its broader implications for the resources sector.
Liberal senator for Western Australia, Slade Brockman, accused the government of being at the mercy of the “radical left agenda”.
His party room colleague, Tasmanian Senator Jonathon Duniam, claimed no project was safe from ministerial interference as he moved a disallowance motion.
“Let's look at what the reality in Australia is: no project in this country of any significance is safe,” Senator Duniam said.
“It doesn't matter whether it's a mine, a forestry operation or a land development to build more houses that we so desperately need.
“It doesn't matter if it's a renewables project.
“They're all unsafe now as a result of what we're seeing with the application of these laws.”
Those views were echoed by opposition spokesperson for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.
“We cannot hope to encourage Indigenous economic independence while at the same time allowing a minister to block projects at the eleventh hour which have otherwise been through due process on the basis of a small number of objections. To do so poses a serious threat to economic development for Indigenous Australians,” Senator Nampijinpa Price said.
On the other side of the chamber, Emergency Management and Cities Minister Jenny McAllister insisted the government hoped Regis would be able to find another site for its tailings dam.
“The government has been unequivocal in its support for mining, which employs 300,000 Australians, announcing very significant measures for resources in the budget,” Senator McAllister said.
“I will make the observation that there are striking similarities between this decision and a decision made by the former minister for the environment, Ms Susan Ley, who is now the deputy Liberal leader.
“Back in 2021, she made a very similar decision just down the road from this same site.”
That decision by Ms Ley at Mt Panorama prevented the go-ahead of a go-kart track.
Industry fears
A number of industry groups have weighed in on the saga this week, expressing concerns over the broader ramifications for investment certainty in Australia.
A statement yesterday from the Minerals Council of Australia expressed disappointment at a lack of transparency over the decision that was taken.
It also accused the EDO of derailing the project.
“This project was a significant opportunity for economic development, and it is concerning that taxpayer funded activist groups such as the Environmental Defenders Office have been allowed to derail it by undermining the voices of local Aboriginal communities who supported the project,” Minerals Council chief executive Tania Constable said.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA was also critical of the call.
“The decision is relation to Regis’s project in NSW risks compromising industry and community trust in the robust project assessment and consultation processes conducted at state level across Australia,” CME chief executive Rebecca Tomkinson said.
“This uncertainty adds to the risk faced by proponents who are seeking to bring to market WA’s pipeline of projects that will underpin our economic security and regional jobs for decades to come.
“While the government has noted the ruling relates to a specific part of the mine plan, and does not prohibit the project as a whole, the financial, regulatory and operational complexity of mandating changes to any project at this very late stage is immense.”
AMEC chief executive Warren Pearce lashed Ms Plibersek’s call and the suggested involvement of the EDO, pointing out that the project had favour with the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council.
“It is a disgrace that government money continues to provide funding to the EDO and the type of activism they are clearly involved in,” Mr Pearce said.
“It’s alarming to hear reports that Section Ten of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act is being weaponised by environmental activists to stall and stop projects like McPhillamys.
"When a mining project doesn't go ahead, neither do the benefits for Aboriginal people, that they have negotiated for themselves.”
For its part, Regis has remained silent after fronting stakeholders to express its disappointment on Monday.
The company told the market on Monday that it was assessing the decision and exploring its legal options.
