Wednesday, 28 August 2024

Statements on tabled papers and petitions

Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority

Report 2022–23

Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (17:15): I am speaking this evening on preserving Victoria’s natural environment. It is something this government takes enormous pride in. We have ended native forest logging, we have some of the best conservation laws in the world and we are pursuing some of the most ambitious emissions reduction targets in the world. This government and its concerns for environmental welfare do not stop there. Organisations like the Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority, or the MLRA, are a core part of this government’s environmental protection tools.

Mining and, more specifically, declared mines which are deemed to pose a safety hazard to the surrounding environment have the capacity to cause significant long-term risks if not managed properly. This is where MLRA comes in. Their duties and functions cover mine operations and the long-term management of declared mining sites. This includes monitoring the three declared mines in Victoria, and – there is more – it includes managing the future of these sites once mining has ceased and it also covers the residual risk once the rehabilitation of an area occurs. These functions and powers are aimed at ensuring that Victorian mining sites that may pose a risk to environmental health are correctly maintained, do not result in contamination and are responsibly managed and rehabilitated. One of the considerations that we need to make is for the impact that the three brown coal mines, which are all relatively close to each other, have on the surrounding environment. Environmental impacts are not the only impacts that the MLRA look at, though. They look into and consider the socio-economic impact of mine rehabilitation. We need to take a multifaceted approach to the way we approach mine rehabilitation to ensure that the entire Latrobe Valley community and the surrounding environment are considered and protected.

We know this approach is especially important in the Latrobe Valley. Mining has been a core part of the local economy and also the local identity of the area. With the mines in the Latrobe Valley being so close together, the government has developed the Latrobe Valley Regional Rehabilitation Strategy. The LVRRS, as it is known, aims to ensure an all-inclusive approach is taken to the mines and the local area, including water rights and consideration for farmers and townships. The MLRA has ensured the community has been more than up to date with the work that they are doing. They have been extensive in their community consultation along every step of the way. The MLRA used a range of different methods to communicate with local and interested parties as well as accepting feedback from members of the community. There were multiple open houses, environmental videos, mail-outs, radio interviews, news items and more. The MLRA even had multiple meetings with locals to answer questions and listen to their views on mining rehabilitation.

While I am talking about this, I have in an earlier contribution spoken about the enormous opportunities for the decommissioning of gas, and there are a range of professionals right across the country that work in mine rehabilitation. I think they too would find enormous opportunities here in Victoria not just for our decommissioning gas work but further for our work in decommissioning mines when those three mines do eventually come offline. I am excited to see the growth and regional jobs that may come from the opportunities contained in mine rehabilitation in our state.

This report, the one that I am speaking to this evening, details a concrete way that the Allan Labor government is caring for the Victorian environment in an extremely practical way, all while planning for the decommissioning of our ageing out coal mines. I look forward to seeing the good work the MLRA will continue to do in rehabilitating Victoria’s stunning natural environment.

With the time that I have got left, I will just take a moment to acknowledge the Minerals Council of Australia, who I am sure will be a part of this work, having recently joined them for a mine rescue celebration with my colleague from the opposition Gaelle Broad. We had a wonderful evening celebrating the enormous work of our emergency services personnel in the mining industry. I know that that will of course be part of the work as we continue to consider rehabilitation of mines in our state.