MINERAL EXPLORATION

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:35): As a supplementary question arising out of the answer, what amendments are proposed in the redrafting of the Mining Act in relation to legal expenses incurred by landowners? I would ask the minister to bear in mind the tremendous financial pressure that many of our landowners are facing in this environment of declining rainfall.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:36): I think it is important that, if we are to have the benefits that a mining boom can bring to this state, we need to make sure that we do have access to land, at least particularly for exploration purposes. I certainly do not support any weakening of that right. What is important is that we get all the information so that we can make a good decision.

As the member mentioned, exploration is of itself generally a very low impact activity but, of course, what exploration can do is indicate the value of any mineral deposit, and I would think that any restriction to access for that purpose would be undesirable. However, of course we need to mix the rights of landowners, and I believe that the current act is generally sufficient in relation to its protection. I do not wish to go into any particular detail in relation to what we may or may not do at this stage.

Let me also add that it is not just the traditional mining operations that we see at Olympic Dam and Prominent Hill and places like that, because the Mining Act also covers quarrying. Quarrying has, for a long time, been an activity that is carried out fairly close to human habitation because quarry materials are, of course, low-value but also absolutely essential for road and house construction. It is important to keep living costs low so that we do have access to quarry materials fairly close to human habitation.

That is why most of the issues in relation to access and closeness to high-value land in my experience are really related more to quarrying, and that has been a longstanding problem. One only has to look at the Linwood Quarry, the Stonyfell Quarry, the Golden Grove quarries and other quarries at Salisbury to understand that really they are the most complex issues in terms of managing mining in a built-up area.