Mining Bill: SA Government to push ahead with controversial legislation

Yorke Peninsula farmers are white hot with anger as the State Government pushes ahead with its controversial Mining Bill — as four Liberal backbenchers once again prepare to cross the floor.

• Labor guarantees support for Mining Bill
• April: Mining Bill ‘dead and buried’
• November 2018: Four Liberals cross floor on Mining Bill
• Mining Bill: What the farming and mining sectors say

DIVISIONS inside the State Government are set to again spill over in public, with four Liberal MPs almost certain to cross the floor to oppose its controversial Mining Bill.

Energy and Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan will push ahead with his controversial legislation this week, a move that has caused angst for farming communities desperate for greater protections.

The Bill is listed for debate in Parliament on Wednesday, just over a month after the Opposition guaranteed its support for the stalled legislation.

Four backbenchers – Steve Murray, Dan Cregan, Nick McBride and Fraser Ellis – who crossed the floor to delay the legislation in November, are set to vote against the legislation this week.

Liberal MPs, back row left to right, Fraser Ellis, Steve Murray, Dan Cregan and Nick McBride sit with Labor MPs in State Parliament after crossing the floor to vote to adjourn the State Government’s controversial mining law changes. Picture: Adam Langenberg

They have launched a last-ditch effort to give farmers greater protections, lodging a suite of amendments for discussion at the Liberal party room meeting tomorrow.

The Advertiser understands these include a judicial inquiry into how SA’s mining industry is regulated, boosting compensation for farmers, and making it harder for their land to be accessed by mining companies.

Mr Murray would not comment on any amendments before the party room, but said he supported the push by multiple peak bodies for a multi-jurisdictional review of mining operations. He said he was “not surprised” the Government was bringing on the debate, but said he would vote against the legislation in its current form.

“I think it’s important for the farming community that it’s amended,” Mr Murray said.