The Federal Government should be congratulated for moving quickly on its promise to remove regulatory and bureaucratic barriers in the resources sector in order to create more jobs.
Resources Minister Matt Canavan and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will today reveal a 12-month review examining how streamlining regulation can cut unnecessary red tape for resources projects.
The announcement follows Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s commitment in June to identify and remove the regulations and bureaucratic processes that imposed the largest costs on key sectors of the economy and blocked investment.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA’s Chief Executive Paul Everingham said excessive and outdated regulation was hampering major projects from getting off the ground and therefore, affecting job creation and restricting the sector’s future expansion.
“In announcing the Productivity Commission review, the Federal Government admitted the resources sector was being held back by complex layers of State and Federal regulations and it has become harder than ever to get new resources projects off the ground,” he said.
“While a high standard of approvals is essential for environmental outcomes, the current inefficient and duplicative processes that our mining and oil and gas members have to navigate is holding the sector back rather than allowing it to grow and remain internationally competitive.
“I look forward to working with Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Ben Morton during the review period and contribute ideas on behalf of our members as to how the approvals process can be reformed in order to boost efficiency, productivity and job creation.”
The resources sector is Western Australia’s third biggest revenue stream, accounting for 23 per cent of State revenue in 2019-20. A survey conducted by CME this year, which sampled just 41 of our member operations in WA, revealed $14.8 billion was given to the State and Federal Government in 2017-18, out of a total $57.7 billion in direct economic contribution made by the sector.
