Latest news with #WarrenPearce
Sky News AU
6 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Miners erupts over major renewables projects as AMEC calls for national coordination to solve battles over land access
Renewable energy projects seeking exclusive access to large swathes of land are 'sterilising resources in the ground' by denying mining groups access, an industry leader has warned. The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies commissioned a report highlighting mounting tensions between the mining industry and the tidal wave of renewable energy projects as they compete for access to the same land. AMEC's report calls for a 'coordinated' approach to accessing land and for the same pieces of land to be accessed by multiple industries where appropriate. The association estimates Australia's land mass would need to be double its current size to deliver exclusive rights to all land users, which includes agriculture, mining and pastoral industries such as poultry farming and livestock grazing. AMEC's chief executive Warren Pearce said players behind renewables projects were vying for exclusive use of the land to avoid what they perceived as 'inconvenience or potential interference'. He noted the mining, agriculture and pastoral industries had historically faced challenges over land access and established practices that enabled each sector to co-exist on the same land. 'That can happen with renewables too,' Mr Pearce told Business Now. 'Renewable projects are absolutely huge. They are massive land users. Think about the size of wind farms. To build a mine is going to take up less than one per cent of that wind farm. 'It's quite easy to imagine that windfarm going ahead with having that little bit excised out.' Mr Pearce said renewable project developers were seeking exclusive tenure and certainty of land access and would 'often cut out' other land users. 'We're seeing expiration projects extinguished before they begin without any real certainty that the renewable project will ever be built or invested in,' he said. 'That's a real problem. We're sterilising resource in the ground before we find out if they're there or not.' Contributions from Australia's major land-based industries – which added $493b to the economy in 2024 – are under threat from these practices, according to the AMEC-commissioned report. The report stressed that a 'coordinated national policy response' can turn the 'emerging crisis' into an 'opportunity for cooperation'. Mr Pearce said each state and territory has a different approach to managing land access, creating difficulties for land management. 'One of the things that's concerning is you've got major global renewable proponents talking to multiple state and territorial governments, but with only the investment capital to invest in one project,' he said. 'We're actually locking up land without any idea whether these projects will move forward because the states and territories aren't talking to each other. 'We need coordination. We need a national response.' Mr Pearce's comments come as about a dozen green hydrogen projects have either failed or been delayed over the past year. One Australian project from Andrew Forrest's Fortescue recently went under, while energy giant BP last month scrapped a $54b project in Western Australia.
West Australian
04-08-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Better together: Push for Federal Government to force mining and green energy to co-exist
Australia might be known as the great southern land, but an escalating fight for space has industry leaders calling for the Federal Government to intervene to ensure mining and renewable energy projects can co-exist. A new report by the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies is warning that priority access for green energy developers is putting the lucrative mining industry at risk, thrusting the issue on the agenda ahead of this month's national economic roundtable. 'We have many more competing uses for the land, no consistent rules and established industries that provide the foundational base of our economy forced to play second fiddle,' AMEC chief executive Warren Pearce said. 'It's paralysing mining development, sterilising resources and it's entirely avoidable.' The AMEC report, Congested & Contested - Co-existence The Key to Unlocking Productivity, warns that tax and royalty revenue of $493 billion is at stake, due to 'uncertainty, delays and conflict' over land use. It reports that a preference for exclusive rights is locking mining exploration out, including in WA's Mid-West. Toolonga Mineral Sand's tenements for coccolith chalk near Kalbarri were terminated, to make way for the foreign-owned Murchison Green Hydrogen Project that has been awarded major project status from the Federal Government and received $814 million in Headstart funding. 'We have stated that we we can coexist. But no, the Minister has ignored that request,' Toolonga Mineral Sands managing director Ann Conlan-Nash said. 'As far as the Murchison green hydrogen project, we know that they're not going to do anything up there for probably five to six years. 'We could have been moving forward since 2020. It's been five years that we've been waiting, fighting.' AMEC said it's an example of the rush to renewable energy 'running roughshod' over regional communities and risking a backlash from locals. The AMEC report found meeting demand from both industries would require an equivalent of 'two Australia's' if exclusive rights are applied to all 77 million square kilometres of land. Mr Pearce said the solution was diversification leases that had been attempted, but not often taken up, in WA. 'This has actually become a really big problem in regional WA,' he said. 'Despite the fact that all of these renewable energy project proponents say they don't require exclusive licences, not one of them are using the diversification leases. They're opting for a section 79 lease which provides exclusive tenure. 'It means they're pursuing a path that tries to lock out other users and that's the worst possible outcome.' He's lobbying for a national model, to ensure consistency and offer investors certainty. 'Everyone benefits, because the highest value land use is multiple land use,' Mr Pearce said. 'The reality is you can do these things without actually ruining the overall purpose or economic benefit of the wind farm. 99 per cent of it will remain untouched. You just need to take a piece out of it. 'That piece creates jobs, taxation, revenues and, of course, royalties, as well as what's going on with the wind farm.'
West Australian
30-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
State Govt to undertake review of native title, cultural heritage processes in mining, exploration sector
The organisation representing mining and exploration companies is hopeful a State Government review into native title and Aboriginal cultural heritage processes will allow for the smoother progress of projects going forward. The State Government on Friday announced a 'targeted' review into native title and Aboriginal cultural heritage processes in WA's mining and exploration sector. The Government said it wanted the review to improve outcomes for both traditional owners and industry. It said the review would be conducted in partnership with the National Native Title Tribunal and identify options to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and equity of WA's native title and Aboriginal cultural heritage processes. Issues it will examine include the interaction of consultation processes under current legislation and the capacity of relevant stakeholders to participate in these processes, and how these processes deliver social, economic and community benefits and contribute to WA's commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. The Government said the review would not consider any legislative amendments. The four-month review would start next month and involve a series of on-country meetings, targeted roundtables, and workshops. A final report is expected to be provided to the State Government by the end of the year. The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies on Friday welcomed the review. It said it had been strongly advocating for a review of the processes involved in protecting cultural heritage and sought assurances from Premier Roger Cook in the lead-up to the recent State election. 'We're pleased that this review process will take place, and the association and our members will work constructively with the review to try and achieve change that can benefit all parties,' chief executive Warren Pearce said. 'Our members value the protection of cultural heritage, and the rights of traditional owners. 'However, there has got to be a better way to protect cultural heritage that doesn't stall exploration and deter investment. 'The process has become extremely costly and lengthy, for the undertaking of heritage surveys and for agreement making processes.' Mr Pearce said the issue was already stopping many projects from moving forward. 'Make no mistake, this is the biggest issue facing the mineral exploration and mining sector, and unless change is made, investment in exploration and mining projects in Western Australia will stall,' he said. 'That will have real economic consequences for the State and nation, but as importantly it will deny traditional owners the opportunity to benefit from these projects, and realise a lasting legacy from the developments that take place on country. 'We need to find a better way forward, and are committed to working towards that outcome.'
Sky News AU
14-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
‘Critical for WA': Speculation over Federal Government response to North West Shelf Project
Association of Mining and Exploration Companies Chief Executive Warren Pearce says the Federal Government has 'refused to tip their hats' regarding the North West Shelf Project. 'It's critical for Western Australia – so the North West Shelf Project was built in the seventies, it's a major onshore gas processing facility just on Dampier on our northwest coast,' Mr Pearce told Sky News Australia. 'The Federal Government has refused to tip their hats, so to speak, about what they're going to do with this.'
