PERTH (miningweekly.com) - The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (Amec) has called on the federal government to scrap amendments to the Native Title Act, saying that it would increase uncertainty and inefficiency, and would lead to further delays in the native title negotiation process.

Amendments to the Act included a definition of “good faith” negotiations, provided new access for indigenous people to claim title over national parks, increased the timeframe for negotiations before an arbitration could be sought, and broadened the scope for voluntary indigenous land-use agreements.

However, Amec CEO Simon Bennison said on Wednesday that the industry body was concerned about the limited consultation process to date.

“We are also very concerned with the lack of any real strategy that will see a reduction in the large number of native title claims still requiring resolution,” Bennison said.

“The Act is a complex and sensitive piece of legislation and any changes must be carefully and fully considered. Ill-considered and hasty changes to the Act will have unintended consequences for Aboriginal communities, Aboriginal people, federal government, state/territory governments and industry.”

Bennison said that the amendments appeared to be based on “very limited” research and statistics and no evidence had been provided to indicate that they would be of benefit to all stakeholders.

The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has reportedly also warned the federal government that the amendments would “increase contestability”, and would result in higher costs, longer timeframes for decisions and would increase uncertainty for stakeholders.

The MCA further stated that the amendments would not promote fair, transparent or timely decision-making.

“We also are not convinced that the proposed measures will achieve the intended outcomes of providing more clarity, improving agreement-making, encouraging flexibility in claim resolution and promoting sustainable outcomes," the MCA was reported as saying.

The proposed amendments to the Act were announced in June last year. Public hearings on the Amendment Bill have been scheduled to start shortly.