MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This submission is made by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) to the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) in response to their Native Title Discussion Paper - Optimising Benefits from Native Title Agreements.

The MCA welcomes the opportunity to provide this submission, focussing on the opportunities and challenges to optimising benefits from Native Title Agreements to Indigenous Australians.

As more than 60% of minerals operations in Australia neighbor Indigenous communities, and being a recognised leader in the field of Indigenous employment and enterprise development, the industry is well placed to provide relevant, informed advice regarding opportunities to optimise benefits from Native Title Agreements.

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NORTHERN TERRITORY RESOURCES COUNCIL

Executive Summary

This submission represents the NTRC view of strategies for 2030 in the NT. It seeks to set a vision that the resources sector remains a significant contributor to the NT economy and does so supported by profitable infrastructure, enhanced value and communities that are vibrant, well educated and job ready; within a positive and simple regulatory framework.

This submission recommends development of strategies that shape this future including:

• Developing enhanced Port bulk loading facilities using innovative partnership structures
• Creating a positive environment for development of downstream manufacturing
• Commissioning a full feasibility study into the Mt Isa - Tennant Creek rail link
• Investigating long term capacity enhancement of the Adelaide to Darwin railway
• Prioritising highway development
• Commissioning a feasibility study into a National Power Grid
• Implementing long term strategies for identifying and assessing resource deposits in the NT
• Ensuring that the regulatory regime in the NT is positive in promoting business
• Devise a low cost taxation regime that encourages investment
• Facilitating ease of land access for resource development
• Devising whole of government strategies that ensure remote communities can access resource industry jobs

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Northern Territory Resources Council Submission to The Senate Standing Committee on Economics
Inquiry into the Uranium Royalty (Northern Territory) Bill 2008

Summary

• The NTRC believes that the Bill provides for a welcome alignment of uranium royalties to that imposed on other metals.
• This alignment solves the complex issue of assessing royalties on poly-metallic ores and provides a level of simplicity to royalty calculations that reduces compliancy costs.
• There is no identifiable economic disadvantage, the suggested profit based format provides less distortion than alternatives, and there are considerable compliancy cost savings with an aligned royalty system.
• By applying the Bill equally to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal land potential complexity
  and cost are further reduced.
• The NTRC supports the Bill and has no suggested amendments.

NTRC welcomes the MRM decision but says this cannot happen again. Comment by environmental lobby is ill informed.

NTRC welcomes yesterday's draft notification by Minister Garrett that he intends to confirm previous approvals for expansion of Xstrata's McArthur River Mine.· The NTRC says that the very substantial benefits that the remote community of Boorooloola enjoys through its relationship with MRM can now start to flow again, but warns that this experience cannot be allowed to re-occur.

NTRC calls for an immediate decision before millions are lost to the local community and jobs go permanently.The decision by Xstrata to place McArthur River Mine on indefinite care and maintenance is not surprising but nonetheless a disaster for the area, says the NTRC.

Despite the fact that there are claims that this is a "win", the local Boorooloola community is now in danger of losing $32m Community Benefits Trust, 46 local sustainable jobs, more than 20 traineeships and apprenticeships, education and training programs, support to the local medical centre and a wide range of community and social support.