Opposition fails to act on legislation

LABOR held up “urgent” legislation last week needed to give certainty to more than 100 projects including Adani’s mega- mine, saying more consultation needs to be done – but no official consultation is being organised.

A Government push to sit an extra day last week to pass the Native Title legislation needed to close a legal loophole was rebuffed by Labor, despite saying it supported it in its current form because more consultation was needed.

But the Attorney- General’s office confirmed it had yet to receive any requests for further consultation from Labor or any other organisation.

The failure to pass the legislation has left a cloud over more than 100 projects, including the $ 22 billion Adani mine/ rail/ port initiative and a $ 2 billion bauxite mine at Weipa, which are subject to court challenges while the situation is unresolved.

The legislation cannot be passed until at least when the Senate sits again on June 13.

Resources Minister Matt Canavan took aim at the holdup and questioned the motives.

“Labor’s excuses from last week don’t seem to stack up,” he said. “It’s up to them to explain their position.”

Attorney- General George Brandis said Labor had already said they supported the Government’s Bill and amendments, saying the delay was a war between the “blue and green collars” of the party.

“The statement that they now need to consult more having finalised their position and announced it is completely disingenuous,” he said.

But Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus said they were “constantly talking to indigenous groups”.

“We’ve had to force them to consult on earlier versions of the legislation – and because of that significant errors and omissions were uncovered,” he said. “The Government has stuffed this up from the start. Any delays are due to their total incompetence.”

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten last week contacted Adani to assure the company Labor would vote to pass the legislation.