Question Time

OLYMPIC DAM EXPANSION

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:27): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Regional Development a question about Roxby Downs and the BHP expansion.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: On 29 November last year BHP Billiton announced to the world's financial markets and the people of South Australia that it welcomed the passage of the Roxby Downs Indenture Act. The legislation passed this parliament with the support of the Liberal Party; in fact, the Liberal Party has been supporting this mine and its expansion for some time, while of course the failed ex-premier, Mike Rann, was urging us to play it safe and leave the ore in the ground.

Roxby Downs now has the capacity to become the world's biggest copper and uranium mine, developed by the world's largest mining company. There is a timetable in that legislation. It specifies that, unless construction begins by the end of this year, the South Australian government has the right to revoke its indenture agreement. However, recently BHP Billiton chairman Jacques Nasser declared that the company will be keeping in its corporate safe the $80 billion it had planned to invest in new mining projects by 2015. He said:

It is all about appropriate allocation of capital. We should pause, take a deep breath and wait and see where the pieces fall around the world.

This deferral could delay the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine project. In a response that sent shudders around the mining world, South Australia has now indicated that the government might revoke the right to proceed. 'I will not be granting an extension to BHP,' resources minister Tom Koutsantonis said. 'They'd need a ministerial exemption to continue those approvals,' the state's Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Tom Koutsantonis, said; 'Thus far I've seen nothing that would incline me to grant an extension.' My questions are:

1. Does the Minister for Regional Development support the decision of the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy not to grant an extension?

2. What will be the effect on rural and regional South Australia if this mine development does not go ahead?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:30): I thank the honourable member for his question. As usual, we see the opposition come into this place and try to talk down and bag the government's hard work. We know it is full of doomsday predictions and talks down the hard work of this government, and that is exactly what the Hon. David Ridgway is doing here today.

An enormous amount of work has gone into the indenture, the EIS and the government's response to BHP Billiton, and negotiations continue in relation to a number of different issues. We know that BHP Billiton has started a number of developments in preparation for the beginning of the mine expansion, so we know that that work is already underway, that they have already undertaken that.

We know that the BHP Billiton board is expected to make its decision on its investment associated with Olympic Dam. We know they are expected to do that by the end of this year. We are still within that time frame and, as far as the government is concerned, proceedings are running well and we are confident that this project remains absolutely intact and viable.

It is a disgrace that the opposition comes into this place day after day, full of doom and gloom, and tries to talk down the prospects of this state and rattle people's confidence and rattle the confidence of members of the public. It is an absolute disgrace, and it's irresponsible behaviour.