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Committee's report

The committee tabled its report on 27 March 2020. The government's response to the committee's report was tabled on 19 May 2020. The Bill was passed with amendments by the Queensland Parliament on 20 May 2020.

About the Bill

On 4 February 2020, Hon Dr Anthony Lynham, Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, introduced the Mineral and Energy Resources and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020 (Bill). The Bill was referred to the State Development, Natural Resources and Agricultural Industry Development Committee for detailed consideration and report by Friday 27 March 2020.

According to the explanatory notes the principal policy objectives of the Bill relate to three priorities of the Queensland Government:

• Safety and health – to strengthen the safety culture in the resources sector by introducing industrial manslaughter offences in the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999, the Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999, the Explosives Act 1999 and the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004; requiring that persons appointed to critical safety statutory roles for coal mining operations must be an employee of the coal mine operator; and enabling regulations to be made, under the Explosives Act 1999, about conditions and other requirements that apply to a security clearance for a person with access to explosives

• Financial assurance – to implement legislative changes that support mine rehabilitation and financial assurance reforms that mitigate the financial risk to the state and improve rehabilitation outcomes for Queensland. The amendments follow on from the Mineral and Energy Resources (Financial Provisioning) Act 2018 which commenced in April 2019 and include:
  • the introduction of provisions to increase the state’s oversight of a resource authority holder when there is a change in ownership
  • introduction of disqualification criteria to be used in the state’s assessment of tenure applications for a resource authority
  • a requirement for significant mineral mining lease holders to prepare and comply with development plans
  • provisions to allow the state to run competitive tenders to re-commercialise abandoned mine sites
• Regulatory efficiency – to improve the administration and effectiveness of the regulatory framework applying to resource projects. The Bill introduces:
  • a dispute resolution framework to resolve commercial disputes for overlapping tenure applications or activities
  • provisions to consolidate conference provisions throughout the resources acts into one framework under the Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Act 2014
  • provisions which allow the amalgamation of tenures when they are transitioned from the Petroleum Act 1923 to the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004
  • changes to the requirements for coordination arrangements when the same entity will hold both a petroleum and a mineral tenure.

The Bill also amends several other Acts and Regulations within the Natural Resources, Mines and Energy portfolio, including removal of the time limit on the existing ban on certain fees and charges for customers on standard retail electricity contracts, and requiring greater transparency about infrastructure charges levied and collected by the south east Queensland water distributor-retailers. Other provisions relate to circumstances in which water storage infrastructure operators can reduce storage capacity, the Energy and Water Ombudsman, and appointment of a Queensland controlling authority for the New South Wales-Queensland Border Rivers.

Timeline