CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Ms PRICE (Durack) (09:48): Labor's toxic taxes are taking more victims every day. Today I want to focus on our junior mineral explorers. Our junior miners are very dear to me, as a child of Kalgoorlie, in the eastern Goldfields.
Junior explorers play a critical role in identifying new mineral deposits. Labor's tax changes are not just hitting the big end of town; they are attacking mums and dads who traditionally invest in emerging WA mining projects. Those who invest in junior miners are funding the riskiest stage of nation building.
They are making the hardest bet in the mining pipeline—taking a risk, just trying to get ahead, with the awareness that most exploration projects fail. But it has been mum and dad investors helping to fund some of the most important recent mineral discoveries in WA, including the Hemi gold deposit and the Kathleen Valley lithium mine. When Western Australians—or any Australian for that matter—take a risk and invest in projects such as these, rather than overseas investors, every ordinary Australian benefits.
These projects contribute thousands of jobs and millions in taxation and royalties. But it's not just me who believes that we should avoid disincentivising our junior explorers. Labor's Western Australian Premier, Roger Cook said: We do not want to disincentivise exploration in our mining industry … which are essential for bringing these mega projects to life.
Mineral investors want a carve out for these CGT changes, but you can't fix these toxic taxes with carve outs. You need to scrap them, which is what a coalition government will do. I recently visited Exmouth to see how the recovery from Tropical Cyclone Narelle was progressing, and I was pleased to hear that the shire has commenced their local operational recovery plan to help locals with the clean up.
An area of immense frustration for locals has been the recent closure of access to Bundegi Beach and the boat ramp. This has been a popular recreational area for families for many years. Swimming, snorkelling, kayaking—you name it—it is Paradise.
It was originally created by the US Department of Defense for service personnel and their families. Thankfully, Cyclone Narelle did minimal damage to Bundegi Beach and the ramp. However, the access road to the beach will require some patching and sand clearance to restore the road.
The council has been unable to include the road in their restoration plan due to it being on land owned by the Department of Defence. Work is yet to begin to reinstate access to the beach and ramp, and there's a real fear in the community that access changes to Bundegi will be permanent. This is incredibly unfair.
So I implore the Department of Defence to begin work immediately to restore it. This is a Defence town. You need the community support.