Invitation: Parliamentary introduction of the Responsible Mining Bill

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Invitation

Parliamentary introduction of the Responsible Mining Bill

You are invited to the introductory speech by Jeremy Buckingham for the Greens’ Responsible Mining (Protecting Land, Water and Communities) Bill 2014 in the NSW Parliament.

When: 10:00am Thursday 23 October 2014

Where: Legislative Council chamber, NSW Parliament House, Macquarie St, Sydney

What: observe the speech from the public gallery or watch online here.

About the Responsible Mining Bill

This Bill seeks to balance the need for certain resources with the environmental, social and economic impacts of mining.  This is in response to the demands of the NSW public to bring to an end the failed adaptive management and co-existence strategies of successive governments that have seen mining and coal seam gas encroach on our agricultural lands, communities, and environment.

The Bill introduces a framework for responsible mining which includes:

  • No-go zones where mining, gas and other extractive industries will not be permitted;
  • Empowering local councils and landholders to prohibit extractive industries on their land;
  • Putting a gate in the Mining and Petroleum Gateway Panel;
  • The establishment of an independent, well-resourced Mining and Petroleum Authority;
  • Restoring the ability for the Minister to cancel licenses in the public interest;
  • Ensuring the life-cycling emissions of mining are taken into account in the approval process;
  • Amending certain aspects of the Mining and Petroleum Acts, including provisions around access arrangements, royalties, conflicts of interest, audits and environmental protection.

The Responsible Mining Bill offers a clear alternative to the Coalition Government’s failed Strategic Regional Land Use Policy which ignores the Liberal and National Party’s own election commitment by not implementing protections for those places where mining and other extractive industries simply should not occur.

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