DEPARTMENT OF MINES,
INDUSTRY REGULATION AND SAFETY — APPROVALS PROCESS
964. Hon ROBIN SCOTT to the minister representing the
Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I refer to the minister's
previous comments that the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety
has the best approvals process in the world.
(1) Does the
minister concede that when DMIRS refers mining applications off to other
government agencies, it stops the clock on
the timing of mining applications, which allows DMIRS to postpone its final
decision?
(2) Why does the
government not track the total time an application takes, from the start of an
application until the time it is determined, and not just for how long it is in
the hands of DMIRS?
(3) Will the minister consider bringing in a system
that tracks the total time an application is with the government?
(4) Since the
current government came into office in 2017, has there been an overall
improvement in processing times for applications?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I
thank the member for the question. The Minister for Mines and Petroleum has
provided the following information.
(1) When the
Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety refers a matter to another
agency for its advice, no decision can be undertaken until that agency's
response is received.
(2) DMIRS tracks
and reports publicly both ''lapsed days'' and ''processing
days''.
(3) The approvals
tracking functionality in the mineral title online system already identifies
where the mining tenement application is within the approvals process at any particular
time.
(4) Yes.