PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The resources sector has welcomed the Western Australian state government’s commitment to fast-track approvals for major projects.
Premier Mark McGowan on Friday announced that more than A$1.6-million would be invested in cutting application wait times for major resource projects, unlocking thousands of jobs and delivering significant economic benefits for Western Australia.
The state government expects that this funding could assist at least 17 projects currently seeking regulatory approvals. In total, these projects are estimated to create almost 18 300 construction jobs and more than 4 500 operational jobs.
The additional funding will support state government regulatory authorities in managing a significant increase in applications for key environmental, mining and heritage approvals, related to these major projects.
“This funding will fast-track approvals and potentially create thousands of jobs for Western Australians. Western Australia's strong response to the pandemic has meant confidence has returned to our economy, with major projects in the pipeline in coming years,” McGowan said.
"As a government, we are focused on ensuring these projects are not delayed, so we can create jobs and support the economy while maintaining high environmental and heritage standards.
"Our resources sector is the engine room of the nation, and it's crucial we support the sector to continue our recovery and create jobs and training opportunities for Western Australians.”
Resource market trends, such as the expansion of the gold and iron-ore sectors owing to high commodity prices, and Western Australia's reputation as an attractive and safe destination for resource investment, are driving the surge in applications, the Premier said.
To ensure the growing number of applications does not delay approvals for major projects, the state government will fund additional surge capacity across the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation including Environmental Protection Authority services, the Department of Planning, Land and Heritage, the Department of Mining, Industry Regulation and Safety, and the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation.
All four authorities have also agreed to work together on a number of new measures that will facilitate better co-ordination and the prioritisation of approvals for major projects across government.
These immediate short-term actions have been taken in response to feedback from industry stakeholders, and ensures approvals for major projects will proceed in parallel with longer term regulatory reform.
“As an attractive and safe destination for resource investment before, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, it is expected that the number of applications for major projects will only continue to increase into the foreseeable future.
“We know from listening to industry stakeholders that making sure our regulatory authorities have the ability to process applications consistently and efficiently is key to unlocking the economic benefits major projects can deliver for Western Australians,” McGowan said.
The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (Amec) has welcomed the investment, with CEO Warren Pearce saying it was a positive step that will improve turnaround times on applications for major projects, and would take pressure off the system.
“Combined with further streamlining measures to improve the efficiency of the approvals process these additional resources will help bring forward greater mining investment into Western Australia,” he added.
“The good news for Western Australia is the increase in approvals applications can be expected to grow as new projects head toward development, supported by a strong investment environment and good commodity prices.
“The government’s commitment to delivering long term regulatory reform through the Streamline Western Australia initiative is needed to boost the effectiveness and efficiency of the approvals process.”
“The short-term boost in staff numbers is timely, but the government will also need to deliver on planned long-term reforms if elected for a second term. A permanent increase in capacity and capability across the State’s key approvals agencies will be needed,” said Pearce.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) for Western Australia has also lauded the investment, with director of policy and advocacy Rob Carruthers saying that the minerals sector was looking forward to ongoing reforms.
“CME welcomes any measure to reduce approval timeframes and improve regulatory outcomes, which is why it has supported the National Cabinet’s commitment to bilateral approvals,” Carruthers said.
“Given increased activity across the mining and resources sector, CME strongly endorses today’s announcement by the Western Australian government to provide additional processing capacity to work through high volumes of approvals.”