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Productivity Commission to review resources sector regulation

Resources employers have welcomed Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan moving to streamline approval processes for job-generating projects.

In an address to the NSW Mining Health, Safety, Environment and Community Conference, Mr Canavan declared his first port of call “to make Australia the best resources nation in the world” was a 12-month inquiry by the Productivity Commission into regulation.

Focusing on streamlining processes is one of six key areas identified in the National Resources Statement, which followed extensive industry consultation of which AREEA and its members were pleased to be heavily involved in.

Mr Canavan said Australia’s reputation as an attractive destination for investment has taken a hit in recent years as projects struggled to gain approval in a reasonable time frame, and activists have hijacked processes to conduct lawfare with the express objective of stopping resource jobs, not protecting the environment.

The inquiry ensures robust environmental standards and regulation is implemented consistently and reasonably in a way that allows for economic development alongside environmental regulation.

“This review delivers on the agreement I made with state and territory governments in our National Resources Statement to establish a bench-marking of resources regulation,” Mr Canavan said.

“The Productivity Commission will be asked to look at best practice examples, both here and overseas, that remove unnecessary costs for businesses while maintaining sound oversight. This work will complement the statutory review of the EPBC Act due to commence in October this year.

“The review is an important part of the Government’s regulatory reform agenda which is tackling a range of barriers to investment in key industries and activities, with the aim of boosting efficiency, productivity and job creation.”

“We can’t let something like Adani happen again. No investor should be made to wait 10 years to get a yes or no answer.

“The development of our resources are too important to allow fringe activists to hijack the processes for their own narrow ends.”

Mr Canavan said timely development of Australia’s resources are important for the direct jobs they generate but in many cases unnecessary delays have wider implications for other industries that rely on secure and affordable resources as inputs.

RED TAPE REMOVAL A BOOST FOR RESOURCES PROJECTS, JOBS: AREEA

AREEA says tasking the Productivity Commission with reviewing and reducing unnecessary red-tape for resources project approvals is a significant step to enhancing the industry’s economic, employment and regional contributions.

“AREEA and its members are pleased the Morrison Government has wasted little time in actioning priorities from its National Resources Statement,” AREEA Chief Executive Steve Knott said.

“It is appropriate that identifying and cutting unnecessary red-tape in major project approval processes is first cab off the rank. This was a key theme raised by AREEA member company senior executives to Minister for Resources Matthew Canavan during the 2018 Resources 2030 Taskforce.

“From a sovereign risk perspective, approvals for nationally important resources projects continue to be embarrassingly slow in Australia.

“Australians should not have to put up with bureaucratic inefficiencies and government duplication that delays, or in some cases disincentives, major projects that bring huge employment and economic benefits to the regions.

“A more streamlined and clear approach for balancing environmental protection with industry growth will help secure investment in new projects that drive Australian jobs and underpin our economy.”

AREEA notes the World Economic Forum’s 2018 Global Competitiveness Report ranks Australia a dismal 77th in the world for “burden of government regulation” – well behind other OECD nations including the United States (4), New Zealand (19), the United Kingdom (27) and Canada (53).

As the government addresses this, AREEA will encourage it to also pursue improvements to the nation’s industrial relations laws, including cutting red tape and inefficiencies in enterprise agreement making (see related article here).

“A number of minor changes to the processes for making agreements and having them approved in the Fair Work Commission would significantly improve the system for both employers and employees,” Mr Knott said.

“Further, allowing enterprise agreements to run the length of major project construction would have a huge positive impact on investor certainty and industrial stability in our country.

“These are just two areas in which Australia’s employment laws require immediate action.

“AREEA commends the Morrison Government for seeking to lift the performance and reduce the burden of government processes, which should be uncontroversial and deserving of bipartisan support in the Federal Parliament.”

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