Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Matt Hepworth spoke with Minerals Council Executive Director Drew Wagner

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Matt Hepworth spoke with Minerals Council Executive Director Drew Wagner · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We just heard from the Deputy Chief Minister, Nicole Madison.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: She's been out on traveling the territory with the promise
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: to cut red tape and long approval delays as well
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: as get new job creating projects off the ground. One
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: industry that has been crying out for this is the
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: mining sector. Joining me on the line now is Drew Wagner,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the executive director of the NT Minerals Council. Geta Drew.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Matt. How are you Yeah? Good?
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Thanks Drew. As I mentioned your industry long being crying
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: out for this, do you think Nicole Madison taking over
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: that mining portfolio? Can she make it happen.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: I think if anyone can, it will certainly be the
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: Deputy Chief Minister. We're excited to have Nicole Madison obviously
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: as our Minister for Minds, which is the first time
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: that that differentiation has been made for a while, and
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: it certainly comes at a perfect time when there's strong
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: recognition of potential, there's strong recognition of view projects coming
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: over the line, and a strong recognition of the role
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: that the mining sector can play in our overall recovery.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Given the last twelve months that.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: We've had Drew, I mean, just for those who don't know,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: talk us through the complexities of the NT mining approvals process.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: At the moment, well at the moment, tod of these
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: processes can take many, many years. We've seen environmental impact
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: statements that are weighed in excess of forty kilos, and
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: that was from an expansion of a current site, not
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: even a new site. We've seen Greenfield's developments way thirteen
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: fourteen kilos. So I'm not sure about you, Matte, but
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: I don't think I can't remember the last time I
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: read a book more than a couple of kilos, let
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: alone thirteen, let alone forty. So the complexity you certainly
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: need to have some work done on them.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: I thought you were going to ask, when's the last
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: time I lifted forty kilos, and I was going to
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: say that'll probably be a while as well.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Well. The interesting thing that to make it relative to
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: your listeners. Under the NT Workplace Health and Safety legislation,
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: one person alone cannot lift their eos. But that's not
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: starting up in itself. Then that's the reality we need
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: to move forward from.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Drew, I mean, how does this compare to other jurisdictions?
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: Well, too, difficult to compare apples with apples other jurisdictions.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: Some are a lot more efficient in their time frames,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: they may have more conditions on them. Some are a
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: lot smoother in the transition or transparency. But there are
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: bits that we can choose from most of the jurisdictions
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: around Australia because the reality is if we're not competitive
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: against those jurisdictions and the money and investment will happen there.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: We always hear about the Great States, Wa and Queensland
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: all the mining they've got. They've got a lot, don't
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: get me wrong, But our opportunity is now. The time
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: to get these frameworks right, the time to get the
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: process in place, and the time to encourage that investment.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Our opportunities now, and that's what we need to make
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: sure we take advantage of. And that's what we're looking forward.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: To work with the Minister on you mentioned before. But
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: it sounds like we could be at risk of losing projects,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: you know, if we don't get moving on and cutting
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: some of these red tape quickly.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Many of your listeners would have heard the words the
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: mining boom. Now, that was the investment boom between two
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: thousand and eight and twenty twelve, less than one percent
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: of the national investment in mining came to the Northern
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: territory during that period. We can ill afford for that
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: to happen again.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: It sounds like that this is something that goes beyond
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: the labor government.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: Then.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: I mean, if we go back to twenty twelve. Prior
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: to twenty twelve, it was a labor government in power,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: but twenty twelve to twenty sixteen was the CLP. So
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: it sounds like this is a problem that's been going
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: on for a long time. And I guess all the
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: blame can't be fooded at the labor government because it's
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: been going on so long.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Oh look, not at all. There's no blame being placed
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: in the foot of any government. All we are doing
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: is the industry is looking forward to what we can
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: collectively achieve on behalf of all territories. What jobs can
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: be put in place, what investment can we encourage, What
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: rural and regional development situations we can look forward, and
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: what benefit we can provide to the community. That's where
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: we're out and that's what we're hoping to achieve. Drew.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: What work can the new minister do right now to
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: help streamline that approvals process.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: So right now we're looking for some very clear signals
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: and messages that many of the reviews that we've seen
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: being undertaken over the last four years come to an end.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: We've seen definitions put round a lot of the guidelines,
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: a lot of the environmental legislation, a lot of the
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: approval systems, and a lot of the overall management of
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: our sites. Provide that transparency, provide that certainty, and allow
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: industry to make the decision whether or not they move
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: forward then, rather than over regulating and pushing them back
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: out of the back.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Door to play devil's advocate get I guess there is
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: a greater environmental risk if we go too hard and
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: slash too many of the approvals processes, isn't there?
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Oh, Look, without a doubt, and we would never ever
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: as an industry and as an individual, I would never
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: wish to reduce the validity of that process. But we
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: can certainly look at the efficiency of it.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: I knows speaking to Nicole Manison a short time ago,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: that one of the things that she flagged is that
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: she wants to see the public service really get behind
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: her in this new can do kind of approached to
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: cutting red tape and approvals processes. It sounds like from
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: what she's saying is that the public service has worked
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: to do here, and not just the minister.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: I think we've all got work to do here, and
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: I think we've identified as industry areas that we can
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: have some development opportunities in. I think there's strong messaging
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: from the minister coming that she's prepared to put a
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: shore rid of the wheel, so to speak. I think
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: the public service has to come to the party as well.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: I think collectively, if we're looking through the lens of
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: redevelopment and reconstruction, this is an holistic job that everybody involved,
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: and that's what we're trying to achieve with the main.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: You must have been happy a few weeks ago when
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: the federal government flagged their new job maker program. I
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: think I'm losing track of all the different job programs
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: that there is, but there was a big emphasis on gas,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: particularly around the Beaterloo base, and it must be good
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: to know that you've the industry has got the federal
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: government in their corner, you know, really trying to push
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: some of these projects ahead a lot quicker.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: Look. I think that there's the strong recognition that we
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: are potentially talking thousands and thousands of jobs here. There's
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: strong recognition that's rural and regional development. There's strong recognition
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: about the return to the economy and the investment that
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: can be made for the returns that can be had.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: So anything we can do right now, every second word
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: seems to have the letters are in front of it.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: Whether we're rebuilding or reconstruction, of reconstruction or redeveloping, there's
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: a lot of potential that we can achieve. So if
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: we can put forward some of those systems, if we
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: can encourage some of that advancement, we can help achieve
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: some of those outcomes.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: Coming back home, and I know that the Territory Economic
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Reconstruction Commission, I think they're due to release one of
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: their reports pretty soon. Did the mining industry get a
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: chance to submit some ideas into that commission?
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: Very much so. We've been working very closely with both
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: the Commission and the Secretariat. It's been well and long
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: known a number of the projects that we've got through
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: our membership that we're looking at bringing and facilitating to
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: come online, both through greenfields, brownfields, so new and also
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: expanded operations. But once again, that recognition that we saw
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: federally has also been echoed locally in regards to the
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: potential that we've certainly got and hopefully moving down further
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: on the track, the manufacturing opportunities we've got too, because
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: of all the products that we can potentially produce here
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: in the territory, so much of that can be beneficiated
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: and made into other products. We keep talking about renewed
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: energy was about twenty something minerals that go into a
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: solar panel, and many of them we can produce here
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: in the territory. So hopefully we can see a downstream
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: manufacturing sector sometime in the future too.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Drue, Just finally, you've got the Darwin Mining Club luncheon
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: coming up later this month. What can we expect there?
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: Well, Fortunately, as if we already heard, we've we now
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: have our Deputy Chief Minister for Minds, Nicole Madison, will
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: be speaking about lunch. We're excited to hear obviously what
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: her view of the short, medium and long term future
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: is for the mining sector. She's quite buoyant about the
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: potential at this point in time and excited as she
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: keeps referring to having the shackles of treasury removed and
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: the ability to be able to say yes more often
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: than no. So I think that collectively we're all very
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: much looking forward to that and having the opportunity as
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: an industry to show our support for the minister and
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: see how we can collectively move forward in that space.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Good on you, Drew, That is Drew Wagnon, the Minerals
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: Council Executive here in the Northern Territory. Drew, thank you
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: so much for your time this morning.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: Absolutely pleasure mate. He love to day.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: Thanks Drew you as well.