Big miner lauds WA reforms after premier cooks greenies
West Australian Premier Roger Cook says his government will continue to help fund the Environmental Defenders Office despite his veiled swipe at the organisation and green groups for dividing Aboriginal communities to block major projects. The mining and resources industry, including Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, welcomed the Cook government’s proposed overhaul of environmental approvals on Wednesday, which the premier launched a day earlier along with his broadside at green groups.
Read MoreFarmers Wary of IR Bill
A nationwide overhaul of industrial relations laws has passed through the House of Representatives, angering farmers who had urged Federal Labor to take the "catastrophic" legislation back to the drawing board.
Read MorePRESS RELEASE | RAAFA and RSLWA launch WA’s first dedicated housing program for veterans
3 December 2023
Read MoreProjects regulated to death
As the minister overseeing the process, he has been unable to effect any real change in seven years, so there’s little confidence that change will happen quickly. According to the CCIWA, there are about $381 billion of investment projects in the pipeline that are yet to receive environmental approval that could create an estimated 106,000 jobs. Of those the CCIWA surveyed, 40 per cent were at risk of abandoning their project due to longer-than expected approval times. As outlined in the WA CCI’s Green Web report, businesses have described working with the State Environmental Protection Authority as “laborious and frustrating” with “ever-changing guidelines and shifting goal posts”. Currently, the normal expectation for a mine to come online is eight to 10 years, double traditional expectations of four to five years.
Read MoreMiners dig in on ‘divisive’ IR deal
Labor’s industrial relations deal with resource sector employers has split the mining industry, with Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting opposing the agreement and the Minerals Council of Australia accusing a rival employer body of being a “soft target”. As the Senate crossbench renewed its bid to split the bill this year, employer groups representing big and small business criticised the Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association over the deal to exclude ¬service contractors from the industrial relations bill. Hancock Prospecting’s Roy Hill mining operation, which is a member of both AREEA and the Minerals Council of Australia, wrote to AREEA chief executive Steve Knott on Wednesday to express concern about the deal.
Read MoreGina’s Christmas wish
Australia’s richest person has called on the federal government to give the nation a “Christmas bonus” in the form of a petrol excise tax cut to deal with spiralling costs, as “woke agendas” threaten Aussie living standards. “Every few dollars counts for people in tough times,” Mrs Rinehart told The Daily Telegraph. “With the stroke of a pen, the government could deliver minor short-term relief to millions by cutting the petrol tax for households.
Read MoreGina’s xmas wish for nation
Australia's richest woman has called on the government to give the nation a "Christmas bonus" in the form of a petrol tax excise cut at a time when people are struggling to deal with spiralling costs and said the "woke" agenda threatened living standards. "Every few dollars counts for people in tough times," Mrs Rinehart told The Advertiser in an exclusive interview.
Read MoreGina’s call for xmas fuel relief
Australians should receive a “much-needed” Christmas bonus from the Federal Government, in the form of another fuel excise cut for December, mining billionaire Gina Rinehart believes. Speaking out after hearing about the impact of cost-of-living rises from West Australians at the National Agriculture and Related Industries Day, Mrs Rinehart said halving the 44.2¢ a litre excise would provide relief. Former prime minister Scott Morrison’s government halved the fuel excise to 22.1¢ a litre in March last year, offering six months of cost-of-living relief to drivers.
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HanRoy is part of Hancock Prospecting
