Liberal MPs to vote against State Government’s Mining Bill again
The four Liberal MPs who voted against the State Government’s controversial Mining Bill last year will do it again — and address a rally of furious farmers first.
- Last November: Four Lib MPs cross the floor on Mining Bill
- April: Mining Bill ‘dead and buried’
- June: Government to push ahead with controversial Mining Bill
- This week: Farmers to rally against Bill
Four Liberal MPs have declared they will cross the floor of State Parliament for a second time to vote against the Government’s controversial Mining Bill.
The issue that has split the Liberal Party will come to a head on Wednesday or Thursday, after a last-ditch bid by the rebel MPs to build in extra protections for farmers failed to secure the support of the party room.
The backbenchers — Steve Murray, Dan Cregan, Fraser Ellis and Nick McBride — will address a rally of furious farmers on the steps of Parliament House on Wednesday.
They declined to comment after the meeting, but confirmed to The Advertiser they would not support the legislation unless the Government changed its position.
Energy and Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan told the Sunday Mail that the Government was pushing ahead with the legislation after the Opposition guaranteed its support for it.
The Bill had previously been shelved after the backbenchers crossed the floor last year to delay it, hitting out at a lack of consultation and a lack of protection for farmers.
A second crossing of the floor would be seen as another sign of internal division less than 18 months into Premier Steven Marshall’s first term.
Main picture: Liberal MPs, back row left to right, Fraser Ellis, Steve Murray, Dan Cregan and Nick McBride sit with Labor MPs in State Parliament in 2018 after crossing the floor against the Mining Bill. Picture: Adam Langenberg
It is understood up to 12 Liberal MPs voted for at least one amendment to the legislation during Monday night’s party room meeting.
The suite of changes proposed by the backbenchers included a judicial inquiry into how SA’s mining industry is regulated, boosting compensation for farmers and making it harder for mining companies to access their land.
Mr Ellis told Parliament last year that the Government’s lack of consultation meant it was “repeating the mistakes of the previous Labor Government“, while Mr Murray bemoaned a lack of action to protect farmers who were routinely “preyed upon, predominantly by unscrupulous explorers”.
“There are no industry codes and there is little prospect of any censure or court action for perpetrators. It is literally the wild west,” Mr Murray said last year.
The Yorke Peninsula Land Owners Group urged farmers to protest on the steps of Parliament to “condemn” the legislation and support the rebel MPs, who had “fought tirelessly and without any concern for their political future to get stronger legislative protections for farmers against the incursion of resource companies”.
Independents Troy Bell and Geoff Brock said they wanted an inquiry into mining regulation before they voted on the Bill.
Mr Brock said he would support either a parliamentary or independent inquiry into the legislation, saying a fresh look was “clearly needed” because it was supported by the mining and farming industries.
Labor’s mining spokesman, Tom Koutsantonis, said the Opposition supported the Bill in its current form.
“We won’t be contemplating anything that gives a right to veto or anything that will jeopardise one of the biggest industries in SA, but at the same time we’ve got to balance the rights of landholders,” he said.
Grain Producers SA chief executive Caroline Rhodes said the Bill failed to “meaningfully address the land access conflicts arising from the existing law”.
“On behalf of growers, we are disappointed that the Mining Bill is set to pass the Lower House,” she said.
“The Bill leaves many issues unresolved for our state’s farming community. I believe that we can, and must, do better to strengthen the rights of farmers.”
Mr van Holst Pellekaan was contacted for comment.
Under both current and proposed legislation, farm land is exempt from being accessed by mining firms, unless they apply to waive the exemption in court.