00:00 In the NT Supreme Court, traditional owners have been trying to reverse a decision by
00:07 mining minister Nicole Manesson to allow Glencore's MacArthur River mine in the NT's Gulf of Carpentaria
00:14 to double in size, and the government's decision to reduce the mine's environmental security
00:21 bond.
00:27 They lost their court case in April. They've been appealing, but have now received advice
00:32 their legal argument won't work.
00:39 Because of changes the government made last month to its mining laws, the centre is now
00:45 questioning whether the changes to the laws were influenced by personal relationships
00:51 between government staff and staff from the international miner Glencore and intended
00:57 to stop the court action.
00:59 We believe that constitutes a perceived conflict of interest because those reforms have the
01:05 effect of removing accountability and requirements for mine closure planning and the calculation
01:12 of security bonds including for Glencore's MacArthur River mine.
01:18 The centre is now asking the ICAC to investigate.
01:22 We are going to refer this conduct and other matters relating to the way in which the security
01:29 bond for MacArthur River mine was slashed by the mines minister.
01:33 Asked by the ABC whether any conflicts did occur, the NT government responded that staff
01:38 with personal relationships didn't advise on the mining bill and processes to manage
01:44 conflicts were followed. It also rejected accusations the laws reduce environmental
01:49 protections.
01:51 Glencore responded by saying it contributed to the new mining laws via the NT government's
01:57 standard consultation process.
02:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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