Question Without Notice No. 704 asked in the Legislative Council on 12 October 2017 by Hon Robin Scott
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
GOLD ROYALTY RATE INCREASE — EXPLORATION DRILLING
704. Hon ROBIN SCOTT to the minister representing the Treasurer:
(1) Is the Treasurer aware that continuous exploration, especially by drilling, is a discretionary expenditure essential to extending the life of any mine and vital for discovering and proving new mines?
(2) Is the Treasurer aware that the reduction by around $120 million per year in cash available to gold producers will, for practical purposes, be funded by a reduction of around a third of exploration drilling?
(3) What modelling has been done by Treasury on the collateral damage that will be done to drilling companies and their employees and suppliers as a result of a gold royalty increase?
Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. Unfortunately, I do not have the answer to that question in my file. I have an answer to a different question for the member. I have checked with my colleagues—we do not have it. If it appears before the end of question time, I will provide it at the end.