Tanya Plibersek has hit out at “misinformation” over her decision to block a waste dump proposed as part of a goldmine development and urged the Coalition to “come clean” on whether it believes Indigenous heritage should be protected.
The environment and water minister was criticised after she issued a partial section 10 declaration to protect Aboriginal heritage from being destroyed by a tailings dam for the proposed McPhillamys gold project near Blayney in New South Wales.
The developer Regis Resources had planned to build the tailings dam for the goldmine at the headwaters of the nearby Belubula River.
On Tuesday, Plibersek said suggestions she had blocked the mine from proceeding were incorrect.
“There’s been a fair bit of misinformation doing the rounds, so I want to be clear about the facts here: I’ve protected an area so a waste dump can’t be built on the headwaters of a river that is significant to local Aboriginal people.
“I would note that since my decision, the company’s share price has gone up by more than 12%.”
Plibersek accepted an application from the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation that said the headwaters were particularly significant for Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people and linked to ongoing cultural practices of the area.
The Coalition accused the government of ripping up a “$1bn mining opportunity in the name of activism” after Plibersek made the decision in mid-August.
“In a cost-of-living crisis, the last thing we need is for a government to ignore clear advice and unilaterally scrap a project like this, sabotaging hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue for the state government,” the opposition environment spokesperson, Jonathon Duniam, said at the time.
Plibersek said on Tuesday Australian governments had done a bad job of protecting Aboriginal cultural heritage and “the Juukan Gorge tragedy was an extreme example of that”.
“Labor, Liberals, Nationals, everyone in the parliament, said we can’t allow things like that to happen again,” she said.
“If we truly believe that we can’t allow the destruction of Aboriginal heritage in that way, then occasionally decisions like this have to be taken.
“If the Liberals and Nationals have changed their position, if they don’t believe Aboriginal heritage should be protected, if this is an end to bipartisanship on this important issue, then they should come clean.”
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has said he hopes the proposal for the goldmine can be modified to build the tailings dam on another part of the site.
The state government confirmed it would meet with Regis on Tuesday to discuss a way for the mine to go ahead.
“We are in discussions with the mine proponent, and we’ve said very specifically that we don’t want them to start from the beginning,” Minns said on 2GB on Tuesday.
“We’re hopeful that there’s a modification of the development application, which means that there can be, hopefully, and I’m not promising this, but [an] expedited approval.”
At a press conference on Monday, Minns said he hoped the state government could talk to Regis “and see whether we can get it up and running with a different tailing”.
The project had been approved by the NSW Independent Planning Commission but it also requires a federal assessment and decision.
At a separate press conference on Tuesday, Plibersek sought to correct reports she had blocked the mine from proceeding.
“Let’s be very clear here, I have said that the goldmine can go ahead but that the company needs to find a new site for the tailings dam,” she said.
“We’re talking about a 2,500 ha site and I’ve said that the tailings dam can’t be built on 400 ha which represents the headwaters and springs of the Belubula River.
“The reason I’ve made that determination is because the Wiradjuri traditional owners have told me the area is significant to them.”
Under section 10 of the Aboriginal Heritage and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act, the minister may make a declaration to protect an area if they are satisfied it is a significant Aboriginal area and is under threat of injury or desecration.
Section 10 declarations are extremely rare.
The last to be made was by the former environment minister, Sussan Ley, who accepted an application, also made by the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation, to protect a sacred site on Bathurst’s Mount Panorama/Wahluu from a go-kart track.
Plibersek has rejected some section 10 applications, including one to protect Darwin’s Lee Point/Binybara from a defence housing development earlier this year.
Regis’ goldmine plans have been met with mixed views in the central west region. Some people in the community have welcomed the potential economic benefits of the proposal and others are concerned about possible impacts on cultural heritage and the environment, including the river and threatened species, such as koalas.
“There is not universal support for it and to suggest that there is universal support for it is not right,” Plibersek said.
In its ASX announcements, Regis has said if it obtains the necessary approvals the earliest it would expect to consider a final investment decision on the project is in the 2026 financial year.
Duniam said “the opposition have always been concerned about the direction that Tanya Plibersek is taking when it comes to Indigenous cultural heritage laws”.
“We are equally concerned by the decision that she has made here, bypassing every state and federal approval and the views of the Orange Aboriginal Land Council, the legislated Indigenous representative voice for the area,” he said.
Duniam said no member of parliament wanted a repeat of the Juukan Gorge disaster, which he said was “a tragic failure in the interactions between the company responsible and the traditional owners”.
“But to equate that event to the rejection of the McPhillamys goldmine tailings dam is beyond absurd,” he said.
