Have your say on land access legislation!

I invite you to share your views on the Mining (Land Access Inquiry Recommendations) Amendment Bill 2022, a piece of legislation I hope to introduce to Parliament later this year.

The Bill is an attempt to codify the recommendations made in the final report of the Select Committee on Land Access Issues last year. This Committee was a multi-partisan effort to strike a better balance between farming and mining in land access disputes. 

In short, the Bill:

• Establishes a Mining Land Commissioner to receive and investigate complaints on behalf of landowners in relation to their dealings with mining companies, assist landowners in their dealings with mining companies, and develop and administer a code of conduct for exploration, and be responsible for enforcing this.
• Introduces the obligation to conduct land use mapping, which would dictate how challenging it is for mining companies to gain access to land. Initially, this was to be a role of the Department for Environment and Water, but on advice from Parliamentary Counsel this too will be overseen by the Mining Land Commissioner.
• Increases the amount available to a landowner for the cost of obtaining legal assistance to $10,000 and the scope expanded to include all professional fees.
• Increases the notice period required for a resource company to enter private land - from 42 days to 90. In addition, mining companies will be required to have regard to the time of year that exploration activities are being conducted.
• Introduces a requirement for resource companies undertaking exploration to consult with landowners whose properties physically adjoin the land to which access is being sought. 

Please take the time to read through the proposed legislation (linked here), and provide your feedback using the survey below.