Parliamentary Questions

(a) can the Minister state on what specific date the Program of Work (POW) application was received by the DMP;
(b) if no to (a), why not;
(c) can the Minister state on what specific date the excess tonnage application was received by the DMP;
(d) if no to (c), why not;
(e) is it correct the above referred to email, dated 21 March 2016, from Marnie Leybourne in part states "Cranston, we are chasing this up, The excess tonnage requests were sent by us (I mean the Environment Division) on 30 July last year, so I am not sure where, or why, they have been held up. We will let you know";
(f) if no to (e), will the Minister state what is specifically correct;
(g) if yes to (e), can the Minister explain why it was held up for such a long period of time;
(h) can the Minister list how many individual separate officers/contractors within the DMP, the respective job level and financial remuneration had to specifically review this matter before the excess tonnage application was referred to the Minister's office;
(i) if no to (g), why not;
(j) can the Minister provide a detailed timeline, from the date of receival with specific dates, including which specific officers by position title who reviewed this excess tonnage application, on what dates before it passed to each successive DMP officer, and again before it finally went before the Minister's office or officer delegated ministerial authority for determination;
(k) if no to (j), why not;
(l) did the DMP recommend or suggest approval of the excess tonnage application to the Minister's office;
(m) if yes to (l), what specific options did it outline;
(n) if no to (l), what specific options did it outline;
(o) can the Minister explain why it apparently took from 25 June 2015, well over 10 months, till 4 April 2016, to process a POW application and excess tonnage application, which ultimately was rejected, given that this process has historically only taken a maximum of several months and in some cases much shorter timeframes than one month to get an outcome;
(p) if no to (o), why not;
(q) can the Minister state how long a timeframe in days did the excess tonnage application remain in the Minister's office, from the date received until the date it was determined and returned back to the DMP;
(r) if no to (q), why not;
(s) can the Minister state which specific officers by title within the DMP, if any, have delegated ministerial authority to determine excess tonnage applications for POW applications; and
(t) if no to (s), why not?
Answered on 5 December 2017

(a) 30 June 2015

(b) Not Applicable

(c) 30 June 2015

(d) Not Applicable

(e) Yes

(f) Not Applicable

(g) There was a delay in finalising the application and DMP has apologised to the proponent. As has been previously advised, a contributing factor in the application being delayed was the need to involve several different sections of DMP, with the result the paper file was overlooked awaiting input from an experienced officer who was on leave. Revised processes are now in place and, in future, electronic processes should prevent similar delays.

(h) No

(i) Provision of this information would require considerable research that would divert staff attention away from their normal duties and I am not prepared to allocate the State’s resources to provide a response.

(j) No

(k) Provision of this information would require considerable research that would divert staff attention away from their normal duties and I am not prepared to allocate the State’s resources to provide a response. If the Member has a specific inquiry I will endeavour to provide a reply.

(l) No

(m) Not Applicable

(n) The Department recommended that the Minister either:

• approve the excavation, extraction or removal of 100 000 tonnes of material from E25/512 and E27/532 (in respect of each tenement) in excess of the 1000 tonnes allowed under the Mining Act; or
• refuse the application for excess tonnage on E25/512 and E27/532, in which case the applicant will be advised of the outcome by the Department of Mines and Petroleum.

(p) Not Applicable

(q) 14 days

(r) Not Applicable

(s) Current delegation for any amounts of excess tonnage:

• Director General, Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety
• Deputy Director General, Resources, Titles and Compliance, Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety
• Executive Director Mineral Titles, Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety

• Executive Director Environment
• Director Operations, Environment
• General Manager Legislation and Compliance
• Team Leader, Regulation and Compliance
• Regional Mining Registrar, Outstations
• Compliance Tenure Officer, Regulation and Compliance
• Compliance Tenure Officer, Regulation and Compliance
• Compliance Tenure Officer, Regulation and Compliance
• Compliance Tenure Officer, Regulation and Compliance
• Compliance Tenure Officer, Regulation and Compliance