Regional voices ignored in Mining Act Reform

The Limestone Coast Sustainable Futures Association has condemned the State Government’s rushed reform of the Mining Act saying it further strips away farmers’ rights and ignores the voices of regional communities.

The Bill, tabled in Parliament this week, proposes sweeping changes to the Mining Act 1971 that committee chairman Todd Woodard said favour mining expansion at the expense of agricultural landholders and the environment.

“The Government has ignored every reasonable call for stronger land-use protection, independent oversight, and transparent rehabilitation. Instead, these reforms hand even more power to the Minister and the mining sector — at the expense of farming families and the environment,” chairman Todd Woodard said.

“These so-called ‘modernising’ reforms make it easier for exploration and mining companies to occupy productive farmland and harder for farmers to protect their livelihoods.”

The Bill claims to “drive productive exploration and mining activity, increase investment, and modernise regulatory consistency across South Australia’s energy and mining framework.”

In reality, it lengthens mining tenure, increases ministerial discretion, fails to improve rehabilitation provisions, and fails to introduce any new measures for land-use protection or community oversight.

Under the proposed changes, exploration licences could be extended beyond 18 years with five-year extensions — with further renewals possible at the Minister’s discretion — effectively tying up farmland for decades.

LCSF’s submission to the Mining Act Review called for stronger conflict resolution between mining and agriculture, independent oversight of exploration approvals, binding rehabilitation standards, and clear consultation processes with affected landholders. None of these measures have been reflected in the reform.

“It’s clear that consultation was a box-ticking exercise- rushed through with just five days for the public to respond. Best practice is usually a minimum of 30 days,” Mr Woodard said.

“From the outside it appears that this legislation was drafted not to balance economic and environmental interests in the regions most impacted but to support further exploration and mining investment.”

Mr Woodard praised the efforts of Independent MP’s Fraser Ellis, Nick McBride and Geoff Brock who were the only parliamentarians to vote against the Bill.

He said his committee would be working hard in the lead-up to the SA State election to fight for more independent scrutiny and land-use protection, ensuring productive agricultural land, that feeds the state economy, doesn’t get tied up in exploration leases for decades.

“Farmers deserve the right to manage their land without being overridden by distant decisions made in Adelaide.  Once these rights are eroded, they’re lost forever. This Bill gives sweeping powers to the Minister while silencing the very people who live and work on the land,” Mr Woodard said.

“The Government must come back to the table with genuine consultation. If they continue down this path, they risk undermining the very foundation of South Australia’s food, fibre and wine industries — and the communities who sustain them.

“The mental health toll on farmers is becoming impossible to ignore – our community is carrying the stress, uncertainty and frustrations of a system that refuses to hear them,” he said.