Minister Harris makes false statements on mining exploration law

Save the Tarkine is increasingly concerned with the repeated failure of Minister for Resources Paul Harriss, to understand the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995 that he is charged with administering.

Today’s Mercury carries a story in which Minister Harris made the following claims;

Mr Harriss said the public notification of Exploration Release Areas, resulting from expired or relinquished licences, was a specific requirement of the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995. The list of the areas is available to the public on the Mineral Resources Tasmania website as required by the Act.

Save the Tarkine’s concern is that the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995 actually makes no reference to Exploration Release Areas, or any process for seeking bids on exploration licences or any requirements for any process other than the normal application process.

“The Minister has made false statements and clearly doesn’t understand the Act that legislates the activity of his department, and his powers as a Minister”, said Save the Tarkine Campaign Coordinator, Scott Jordan.

“And this is not an isolated case. This Minister has repeatedly failed to understand the legislative framework that Parliaments has set”.

“This Minister is clearly ignorant of the provisions of the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995, but more concerning is whether he is simply ignoring advice from his department, or are the department giving legally flawed advice?”

“We expect better from a Minister of the Crown”.
Scott Jordan, Campaign Coordinator Save The Tarkine