The state government is amending a 30-year-old law to provide clarity to Western Australia’s resources sector that land held under a miscellaneous licence is exempt from local government rates.
These amendments will uphold the status quo and are expected to provide certainty to the resources sector and local governments and ensure jobs throughout regional Western Australia are protected.
Miscellaneous licences are typically used, alongside underlying mining or exploration tenure, to facilitate infrastructure such as roads, aerodromes, pipelines, and accommodation to support mining activities.
While land held under these licences has long been understood to not be rateable under the Local Government Act 1995, the Supreme Court of Western Australia recently ruled local governments can levy rates on land held under these licences.
This government says this is potentially creating millions of dollars in additional costs for mining and exploration companies throughout regional Western Australia.
As a result, the state government will amend the Act by clarifying that land held under these licences is exempt from local government rates.
Local Government and Acting Mines and Petroleum Minister Hannah Beazley says the amendments will restore a long-understood precedent and will provide certainty to local governments and resources companies, protecting jobs throughout regional Western Australia.
Beazley says maintaining the competitiveness of Western Australia’s world-leading mining sector is critical to the state remaining the strongest economy in the nation and the best place to get a quality job.
“While no local governments are currently collecting rates on land held under a miscellaneous licence, a recent Supreme Court ruling has called this understanding into question,” Beazley adds.
“That’s why our government is moving swiftly to clarify that this land is not rateable, reinforcing what governments and mining companies have long understood to be the legislation’s original intent.”
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: WA Government & Gateway Mining
