Liberal revolt feared as ALP backs Mining Bill

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ADAM LANGENBERG

The Bill was shelved earlier this year after Energy and Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan was unable to reach agreement with four Liberal backbenchers who last year crossed the floor and sided with Labor to delay it by three months.

Mr Koutsantonis’ guarantee means the Government does not need the support of the backbenchers, who cited concerns about a lack of consultation and a lack of protection for farmers and landowners.

The sticking point is the backbenchers’ push for stricter planning-type controls over land proposed for mining operations, as well as a better compensation regime for farmers.

Mr Koutsantonis, pictured, denied he was playing political games or trying to fire up internal divisions inside the Liberal Party, saying the mining industry was simply “too important” for the legislation to be shelved.

“The minister hasn’t been doing anything and he’s relying on legislation that’s 47 years old,” he said. “We’re doing it to provide political stability and certainty that allows both the mining and farming sectors to grow. The mining industry is one of the most important private industries and employers we have in this state.”

The Bill had been described as “dead and buried” by senior Liberals, who say Mr van Holst Pellekaan is unwilling to have internal divisions spill over on to the floor of State Parliament without a guarantee it will pass.

The floor crossing was the first and only open sign of division inside the Liberal Party during Premier Steven Marshall’s first 14 months in Government.

Liberal sources have consistently told The Advertiser that the Government would be seriously tempted to reintroduce the legislation if Labor guaranteed its passage through Parliament but have warned that it would cause open division inside party ranks if they opted to do so.

The four backbenchers – Dan Cregan, Steve Murray, Nick McBride and Fraser Ellis – are vociferously opposed to the legislation passing in its current form, as is Upper House MP Terry Stephens. At least three other Liberal MPs have concerns about the legislation.

Any move by the Government to push ahead would also spark a fight with Grain Producers SA, which does not support the Bill and has called for new legislation to be introduced after a wide-ranging review of best-practice land access arrangements interstate.

Mr Koutsantonis said the Government’s legislation, which is almost identical to that proposed by the former Labor government, struck the right balance between the farming and mining sectors.

He said farming communities received more consultation and better access to legal resources under the legislation than they did currently.

“It’s about giving them both more resources to deal with these issues because they both need to grow and be more productive,” he said. “We want our farmers growing and expanding and we want our mining companies growing our state.”

Mr Koutsantonis also defended Labor’s initial vote to adjourn off the Bill, saying the Government “needed to consult with regional communities”.

The renewed debate will cause angst in the Yorke Peninsula, where farmers are advocating for a right to veto which would prevent mining companies from accessing their property. Currently, mining companies are able to apply to the court for access to agricultural land but are unable to conduct operations without court approval.

SA Chamber of Mines and Energy chief executive Rebecca Knol said she would welcome a “bipartisan approach to reform conducted in good faith and continues to support passage of the Mineral Resources Amendment Bill”

Opposition energy and mining spokesman Tom Koutsantonis told The Advertiser that Labor would support the Bill in both houses of Parliament, guaranteeing that it would be passed if the Government moved to restart debate.

LABOR’S pledge to support the Government’s Mining Bill breathes a cyclone of fresh air into a debate that was threatening to slowly fade away.

The guarantee from Opposition mining spokesman Tom Koutsantonis gives Premier Steven Marshall an incredibly contentious decision to make about a piece of legislation that divides his party room.

If he wants to push ahead with the legislation, consistently defended by Energy and Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan as the right way forward, he can. He now has the numbers, even if backbenchers Dan Cregan, Steve Murray, Nick McBride and Fraser Ellis again cross the floor.

But Mr Marshall must weigh up whether that guaranteed victory is worth internal divisions again spilling over.

When canvassed about this exact possibility over the last few months, Liberal sources said moving ahead would be tempting for the Government, but warned it would ensure war inside the party room.

The backbench bloc won’t die quietly, nor will Grain Producers SA chief executive Caroline Rhodes, formerly on the Liberal Party’s state executive.

It’s a clever move by Labor to put the Government into a corner, where they’re either giving into four backbenchers if they don’t proceed, or risk being abandoned by its regional heartland if they do.

Mr Koutsantonis has a long history of advocating for the mining industry, and this Bill mirrors the one he put forward in 2017. But despite that, he’s a canny operator who knows how to push the buttons of his political opponents.

And this is one buttonpushing exercise that will cause plenty of fallout.

Kouts pushes Libs’ buttons

ANALYSIS

ADAM LANGENBERG


OPPOSED: Liberal MPs, back row, Fraser Ellis, Steve Murray, Dan Cregan and Nick McBride, side with Labor MPs to adjourn the Mining Bill last year. Picture: ADAM LANGENBERG

LABOR’S pledge to support the Government’s Mining Bill breathes a cyclone of fresh air into a debate that was threatening to slowly fade away.

The guarantee from Opposition mining spokesman Tom Koutsantonis gives Premier Steven Marshall an incredibly contentious decision to make about a piece of legislation that divides his party room.

If he wants to push ahead with the legislation, consistently defended by Energy and Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan as the right way forward, he can. He now has the numbers, even if backbenchers Dan Cregan, Steve Murray, Nick McBride and Fraser Ellis again cross the floor.

But Mr Marshall must weigh up whether that guaranteed victory is worth internal divisions again spilling over.

When canvassed about this exact possibility over the last few months, Liberal sources said moving ahead would be tempting for the Government, but warned it would ensure war inside the party room.

The backbench bloc won’t die quietly, nor will Grain Producers SA chief executive Caroline Rhodes, formerly on the Liberal Party’s state executive.

It’s a clever move by Labor to put the Government into a corner, where they’re either giving into four backbenchers if they don’t proceed, or risk being abandoned by its regional heartland if they do.

Mr Koutsantonis has a long history of advocating for the mining industry, and this Bill mirrors the one he put forward in 2017. But despite that, he’s a canny operator who knows how to push the buttons of his political opponents.

And this is one buttonpushing exercise that will cause plenty of fallout.