A concerted effort will be made to keep the issue before the public in the lead up to this year's Federal election. A copy of the media release follows. Uncertainty regarding equitable access to land has seen exploration crash to the lowest levels for more than a decade with no prospect for improvement until Governments, State and Federal, implement genuine, positive, effective measures to address the situation. A lack of mineral exploration means no new discoveries, no new projects and no new jobs. The impacts are felt most in regional communities where resource industries are a major source of skilled employment, training opportunities, a catalyst for small business development and much needed investment in infrastructure.
Entire communities benefit.
A lack of new mines means that income from royalties, rates and payments to public utilities will decline, leaving governments to seek alternate sources of revenue. This is only a fraction of the industry's total expenditure in the form wages, salaries, road and rail freight, port charges, payments to suppliers and taxation that help to sustain our economy. The situation can't be corrected tomorrow. A lack of exploration now means no new projects for at least the next five to ten years. This makes finding a solution now all the more important.