Hancock Prospecting projects chief executive Sanjiv Manchanda has lashed out at government intervention in the mining industry and called for Nature Positive to be scrapped.
Hancock Prospecting projects chief executive Sanjiv Manchanda has lashed out at government intervention in the mining industry and called for Nature Positive to be scrapped.
Mr Manchanda spoke at AFR Mining Summit today, held in Perth, doubling down on his opposition to government processes.
In November, Mr Manchanda lashed out at the Western Australian government’s environmental approvement process.
Today, Mr Manchanda instead praised the WA government but slammed its federal counterpart.
“Our Labor government in WA has a good track record of working with the industry but this common sense approach risk being entirely undermined by the new federal Nature Positive laws for the EPBC reform,” he said at the summit.
The federal government plans to amend the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, but last month announced amendments would be delayed.
Mr Manchanda said the federal government had been unwilling to engage directly with the resources industry on the Nature Positive plan.
“We don’t have the details you would expect for a large piece of legislation,” he said at the summit.
“What we have is snippets, draft documents, without any confirmation on whether they will apply or not apply.
“What details we have seen has terrified the industry.”
The proposed environmental reforms include establishing a federal authority body that has the power to issue stop-work orders, audit businesses and impose penalties.
When asked whether Nature Positive should be scrapped, Mr Manchanda was strong in his stance.
“Absolutely, start from the very beginning. Define what’s good, define the duplication, make it quick, effective and decisive, and enforce the standards,” he said.
“Hand-out to the industry is not the only thing that is needed, what is needed is urgent and significant government tape cutting.
“Red tape, green tape, any colour tape; just cut that tape.”
Mr Manchanda said Hancock Prospecting should be celebrating its first ore late from the McPhee Creek project late last year after referring the Pilbara project to the state’s Environmental Protection Authority in February 2021.
However, Mr Manchanda said the process has been full of delays, being more than four years in.
“It has taken to recent days where we are at a stage… that we could be gearing up to commence construction shortly,” he said.
“As an industry, we are facing the reality of very little light at the end of the government approvals tunnel that prevents us from getting these new projects built.”
The federal government has allocated $22.7 billion for its Future Made in Australia Initiative in the 2024-25 budget, to be spent over a decade.
This includes a production tax incentive for critical minerals starting in 2027.
The budget includes $566 million to be poured into a resources map.
Despite this, Mr Manchanda’s continued his rant against the federal government, taking a swipe at the 2024-25 budget.
“The word mining appeared only once in the treasurer’s speech,” he said.
“There was no acknowledgment that the mining industry has underwritten the budget surplus.
“There has been a mismatch in the last few years where commodity prices have been high but investment has not increased which is contrary to what has happened in the previous investment cycles.
“Usually, the response to high commodity prices is for business to invest more and bring on additional supply.
“We have seen that relationship severed due to the large growing burden of government regulations and complicated slow approval process.”
