Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek flouts Senate orders to explain reasons behind McPhillamys ruling

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has refused to shed more light on her controversial decision to block a Regis Resources gold mine near Orange in New South Wales.

The Federal Opposition has accused Labor of flagrant disregard for parliamentary accountability, after Minister Plibersek failed to deliver a full explanation for siding with a Section 10 application lodged under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act.

She was ordered last Tuesday to table a formal “statement of reasons” to the Senate following a ruling last month in favour of the application — effectively killing off the McPhillamys gold project — on grounds the development’s tailings dam would harm “confidential” traditions at a nearby spring.

“They (the Beluba headwaters) have featured in many traditions practiced for generations including by Aboriginal people transitioning from youth to young adulthood. Some of these traditions have been disclosed to me privately and must remain confidential due to their cultural sensitivity,” Ms Plibersek said last month.

The move was lambasted by mining groups, many locals near the proposed mine, and even prominent Aboriginal leaders in the region — including former chair of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council Roy Ah-See. Regis had received all other substantive State and Federal approvals for the $1 billion project.

The deadline for tabling the statement of reasons to Senate was 2pm on Monday. Ms Plibersek did not provide a fulsome explanation and instead just pointed to her previous declaration made last month.

This does not constitute an acceptable statement of reasons, according to a guidance note from legal giant Clayton Utz.

The statutory requirements for the decision need to be explained and reference to evidence needs to be provided, the Clayton Utz note says, which Ms Plibersek’s earlier declaration did not include either.

She has previously claimed mining at McPhillamys can still go ahead as her ruling only covers the tailings dam, but Regis has strongly refuted that notion — arguing it took years of jumping through regulatory hoops to find the appropriate tailings damn site.

The company reduced the book value of McPhillamys to virtually nil following the ruling.

Shadow Environment Minister Jonno Duniam said his counterpart on the other side of the aisle had “shirked her responsibility”.

“Instead of fronting up and explaining the reasons for her terrible decision in relation to the Blayney gold mine, Ms Plibersek has shirked her responsibility by redirecting the Opposition to a document we already knew existed and were clearly not seeking,” he said.

“The Environment Minister has deliberately made light of this request. This is not a game, there are 800 jobs and the social and economic prospects of a country town and region at stake.

“The Labor Party have no regard for Parliamentary accountability and certainly no care for the people of the Central Tablelands.”

Regis had been stuck in bureaucratic purgatory since October 2020 when the Section 10 application against McPhillamys was submitted.

Under Section 10 of the Act, an application can be made to the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to request the protection and preservation of significant Aboriginal areas.

There is no statutory timeframe for the Environment Minister — which since 2022 has been Tanya Plibersek — to make a ruling on a Section 10 application.

Regis is still weighing up its legal options against the McPhillamys ruling, The West Australian understands.

Ms Plibersek’s office is yet to respond to requests for comment.