NT mining approvals: CLP says it can cut wait times in half, but scant on detail of how to get there

Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro has again claimed she can reduce approval times for NT mines by half, and it won’t even involve additional public servants or reduced appeal rights.

Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro with justice spokesman Steve Edgington outside the Legislative Assembly, March 14, 2024. Picture: Alex Treacy

Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro has again claimed that the Country Liberal Party would be able to cut in half the time it takes for mines to be approved in the Northern Territory.

Speaking outside the Legislative Assembly in Darwin following Thursday’s parliamentary sittings, Ms Finocchiaro denied that the reduction in wait times could only be achieved via the hiring of additional public servants or removing appeal rights.

“The CLP doesn’t believe that achieving a 50 per cent reduction in approval times is going to require any additional staff,” she said.

“We have a fantastic and strong public service.

“What this needs is leadership at the top around a commitment to make sure that we are getting rid of red, green and beige tape, and ensuring that the Territory is a safe place to live work and invest.”

Asked whether faster approvals risked the Territory’s natural environment, Ms Finocchiaro said that “all approvals will continue to be met, just done in a quicker time-frame”.

“We have to manage that balance and it’s really important for our lifestyle that environment continues to play centre stage in the Territory’s future, but we must create industry and we must have a resources sector that create the jobs and opportunities of the future,” she said.

Ms Finocchiaro said the 50 per cent reduction in time taken to approve projects would extend further than just the resources industry and extend “across government”.

The contribution of mining to the Territory’s gross state product declined in 2022–23 by 17.1 per cent, from $9.9bn down to $8.2bn, which Ms Finocchiaro said was evidence of a Labor government that did not back the resources sector to the hilt.

The other major talking point of the day was the passage of the Children’s Commissioner Amendment Bill 2024 which, among other reforms, provides for the NT Children’s Commissioner to be an Aboriginal person, if practical.

Barkly MLA Steve Edgington, the opposition’s justice spokesman, seized upon this aspect of the legislation to claim that Labor was getting lost down the winding path of identity politics rather than focusing on core issues.

Northern Territory Children's Commissioner Shahleena Musk. Picture: File

“The government’s focus is on trying to ensure that the commissioner is an Aboriginal person, whereas the CLP, what we want to focus on is making sure that the Children’s Commissioner is the very best person for the job,” he said.

“We recognise that children need the very best start in life.

“We need somebody to protect their interests and their wellbeing, so to move down that path, rather than focus on a merit-based process to appoint a commissioner, is very difficult to accept.”

A Labor source said merit would still be the overwhelming factor in appointing a new commissioner.

“It’s absolutely merit-based, you can’t just be a Children’s Commissioner if you don’t have the skills,” she said.

Suitable candidates, Aboriginal or otherwise, can only be recommended if they have “qualifications or experience relating to the commissioner’s functions [and] the knowledge and experience to understand and respond to the needs of, and issues facing, vulnerable children who are Aboriginal,” under the new legislative scheme.

Approximately 90 per cent of Territory children who are in out-of-home care are Aboriginal.

Larrakia lawyer Shahleena Musk, formerly of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, commenced as the new NT Children’s Commissioner on January 22.

Originally published as NT mining approvals: CLP says it can cut wait times in half, but scant on detail of how to get there