Crossbenchers Fraser Ellis, Sam Duluk and Troy Bell last year joined with the Labor Opposition and independents Geoff Brock and Frances Bedford to establish a select committee into land access provisions for mining companies under the state Mining Act.

The committee spoke to landowners and mining companies with interests on Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula and the South East before publishing its final report in November.

It made six recommendations aimed at giving farmers and other landholders greater protection and compensation from prospective miners.

The recommendations are yet to be adopted and neither major party has taken a strong stance one way or the other.

The committee followed a 2018 election promise by the Liberals to Mount Gambier MP Troy Bell to introduce a 10-year moratorium on fracking in the Limestone Coast, which passed into law later that year.

The South Australian Chamber of Mines & Energy (SACOME) says the “sweeping changes to land access arrangements” proposed by the committee effectively amount to “proxy moratoria and would directly impact the viability of exploration and mining projects in South Australia”.

It says while Liberal and Labor have both rejected a landholder right to veto and new moratoria, the sector had been burnt in the past by the 2018 fracking moratoria, which set a precedent that threatens to be repeated at this month’s state election.

“Independent MPs Geoff Brock and Fraser Ellis have declared that their support to form government depends on either major party being prepared to implement the recommendations of the Select Committee Inquiry on Land Access,” SACOME said in a statement this week.

“Independent MP Dan Cregan has also expressed his strong reservations about resource development.”

Ellis’s electorate is on Yorke Peninsula where farmers have long lobbied against the proposed Rex Minerals copper mine near Ardrossan.

Cregan’s electorate includes the historic Bird in Hand former gold mine near Woodside, which has been earmarked for reactivation.

Grain Producers SA yesterday hosted a forum on Yorke Peninsula, attended by Ellis, where the proposed Rex Minerals project was a hot topic.

SACOME Chief Executive Rebecca Knol said land access continued to be a politically charged issue in South Australia.

“It is deeply concerning that politicians would risk the stable operation of one of the state’s most significant economic sectors for political expediency,” she said.

“We’ve been through four years of legislative review resulting in significant improvements to landholder rights under the Mining Act.

“The stable framework resulting from that massive effort is under threat of being traded away.”

South Australia’s resources industry, led by BHP’s Olympic Dam operation and Oz Minerals’ copper-gold mines at Prominent Hill and Carrapateena, produce minerals worth about $7 billion a year. Oil and gas fields in the Cooper Basin owned by SA companies such as Beach Energy, Santos and Cooper Energy are also significant contributors.

The Department of Energy & Mining’s 2021 economic data shows that resources activity in South Australia contributes $8.7 billion to the state’s economy, delivers $323 million in royalties and $5.5 billion in exports.

Knol said the resources sector was a cornerstone of the South Australian economy and helped drive the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is difficult to reconcile that a key Growth State sector, which is well placed to assist the government achieve its 3 per cent economic growth target, would be put at risk,” she said.

“The ink on the amended Mining Act is barely dry but we’re again facing down the threat of moratoria on the eve of an election.

“It flies in the face of good process and threatens South Australia’s global reputation as a stable jurisdiction for investment”.

SACOME last month released its five pre-election priorities including:

• Bi-partisan support for the Northern South Australia Productive Water Security Project, which last month received $15 million in government support to develop a business case;
• The establishment of a South Australian Energy Advisory Board with industry representation to prepare a South Australian Energy Transition Roadmap;
• Urgent development of a South Australian Future Workforce & Skills Framework that maps requirements across key industry sectors;
• A bipartisan commitment for full implementation of the Resources Infrastructure Corridors initiative in 2022 to encourage resources project development and attract investment, and;
• Continued bipartisan rejection of a landholder right to veto and no new moratoria to be introduced in South Australia.