WA turns up heat on Albanese over native title as miners fear the worst for industry future

Efforts by WA’s Labor state government to shore up mining leases are in limbo as an industry leader warns of native title chaos.

The resources industry fears for its future unless Native Title legislation is amended.

The resources industry has warned that mining in Western Australia will be devastated unless the Native Title Act is changed quickly.

WA’s Labor government has conceded its efforts to shore up mining leases are in limbo, with the federal government stonewalling on changes to the act, which gives Indigenous groups a form of land rights over most of the state.

The WA government confirmed Canberra had failed to act despite years of lobbying for amendments, and the issue was now coming to a head.

Association of Mining and Exploration Companies chief executive Warren Pearce said there were growing fears about lease renewals and frustration over the unwillingness to change native title laws.

“It carries uncertainty that in turn brings risk, with the lack of action to date quite frustrating,” he said.

AMEC chief executive Warren Pearce.

“Nobody is claiming to have a simple solution to this issue, but surely the time has come to validate the mineral tenure that underpins WA mining. It’s been kicked down the road for the past eight years by all sides of politics. It just needs to be fixed.

“The potential damage this could have on mining operations in WA is significant. If people thought Nature Positive was going to cause tremors in the resources industry, then this has the potential to cause a full-blown earthquake.”

The Australian can reveal WA has been asking for changes to the Native Title Act since 2017 when a court case instigated by mining billionaire Andrew Forrest cast doubt on the legitimacy of numerous leases.

The issue took on new urgency when legal advice on lease renewals was handed to the WA government, raising the prospect of difficult negotiations between miners and traditional owner groups seeking hefty royalties.

The impasse between the WA and federal governments over native title comes after Premier Roger Cook last week warned federal Labor MPs trying to resurrect so-called Nature Positive laws that “your standard of living, the reason why you can afford your long mac and your lattes, is because of WA industry and the WA economy”.

WA Mines and Petroleum Minister David Michael and his predecessor Bill Johnston have made written requests to the government for amendments to the Native Title Act.

The WA government has told the resources industry that lease renewals will trigger right-to-negotiate provisions under the Native Title Act, and that leases in place for more than 40 years won’t be renewed unless companies reach agreement with native title holders or native title claimants.

Australian businessman Andrew Forres. Picture: AFP

This is on top of similar concerns around a 2017 High Court ruling in a case known as Forrest & Forrest where Mr Forrest challenged the validity of mining lease applications lodged over his family’s Minderoo cattle station.

A move to stave off major mining industry disruption through legislative changes at a state level has lapsed as WA voters prepare to go to the polls on March 8.

The WA government said its legislative fix would have been ineffective without changes to the Native Title Act.

Anticipating that it could take years to reach agreements with traditional owner groups with significant bargaining power, the WA government wanted to amend the state’s Mining Act to give companies more time to negotiate deals before their leases expired.

Mr Michael and top officials from the WA Department of Mines met their federal counterparts recently to push the WA case. “The WA government is committed to continuing to engage federally on this important matter,” a spokesman for Mr Michael said.

“The Cook government had introduced legislation to parliament in November to support the validation of all pending and future mining leases as part of the Mining Amendment Bill 2024.

WA Mines and Petroleum Minister David Michael.

“We have also investigated state legislation to support the retrospective validation of mining leases as part of the State Validation Bill, but ultimately it will require amendments to the Native Title Act for that to take ­effect.”

Attorney-General Mark Drey­fus declined to respond when asked whether Labor intended to make changes to the Native Title Act if it wins the Federal election, or on why it had not acted to date.

“The Australian government acknowledges the significance of mining and native title in WA,” a spokesman for Mr Dreyfus said. “The Australian government has been engaging with the WA government on this issue for a number of years and remains willing to work with it on a way forward.”

Mr Pearce said miners deserved greater certainty about land access and tenure.

“Now that proposed Nature Positive legislation has been put to bed, it would be great to see the focus turn to resolving this important issue,” he said.

“AMEC is encouraged to see the WA government and federal government openly discussing options to find a solution. This needs to be prioritised once both elections are out of the way.”

In the wake of the Forrest & Forrest ruling, Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill iron ore mine and other companies took the precaution of lodging new lease applications over the top of existing leases.

The High Court found mining lease applications over Minderoo did not meet the requirements of the WA Mining Act because a document that needed to be submitted with the applications, a mineralisation report, was not filed at the same time but two months later.

Forrest-led Fortescue applied for multiple mining leases following the court ruling, many of which appeared to overlap its existing iron ore mining leases.

Originally published as WA turns up heat on Albanese over native title as miners fear the worst for industry future