Ms BADGER – Minister, I heard your comments earlier that one of the concerns with the Exploration Drilling Grant Initiative (EDGI) scheme is the lack of transparency that is publicly available in terms of who is being awarded the grants and how much for. It’s pretty standard practice for similar grant schemes that are regularly rolled out and have been continuing – this one’s been going on since 2018 – to have these details periodically updated on a website. Will you implement such a website for the EDGI scheme?
Mr ABETZ – The actual amount of money made available is publicly announced, then the program guidelines are publicly announced. The department makes an assessment of the applications and then the successful applicants are also publicly announced.
Ms BADGER – Where are they publicly announced, sorry, minister?
Mr ABETZ – In a press release that I did. It’s on the MRT website.
Ms BADGER – Every time those grants are awarded from the minister, there’s a press release announcing who is awarded the money and how much for?
Mr ABETZ – I think it’s the third tranche now that we’ve just opened up, and the first two lots have been –
Mr MORTON – EDGI provides grants of up to 50 per cent for direct drilling capped at $70,000 if they’re using helicopters. EDGI’s been around, as was noted earlier, since 2018. It’s really focused around greenfields. As outlined in the publicly available EDGI guidelines, which are up on our website – we administer the program. Applications are competitive and are assessed by a committee comprising of two staff from MRT, an industry representative and an academic. After a round, they’ll sit down and form a view and provide recommendations.
The major feature of the initiative is that we administer it from within existing resources. This ensures that the amount of money available to applicants is maximised. There are requirements we have in terms of the grant conditions.
Ms BADGER – They’re very tight conditions and we understand that. Sometimes the company that’s awarded a grant puts out a media release, so we know that they’ve received it. We understand it’s a joint grant system, so they’re only awarded the money when the work’s being done in a specific way, hence the low acquittal rate. Not all of that information is public. The information that we have has been received through multiple RTIs. We are asking for a more public and transparent way moving forward so that any Tasmanian can see exactly who was awarded which grant and for how much.
Mr MORTON – The successful applicants for each round and the final technical reports that the companies provide for each completed grant are made publicly available on MRT’s website. We make as much information of publicly available as we can.
Mr ABETZ – That is why there was some consternation on this side of the table with the press release and the referral to the Auditor‑General, because there is, as you’ve just heard from the director, transparency in this area and in this program.
Ms BADGER – We will definitely go and crosscheck everything that is on the website to what came back in the RTI, because there were comments from the office about the lack of such a website, which is standard practice for other grants. I appreciate what you’re saying, we’ll crosscheck it and no doubt come back to you.
My second question is about the new leaseholder of the Riley mine site, which is Gold Valley. They have quite a chequered financial history. They operate under similar names but with the same CEO and board they’ve had multiple insolvencies, voluntary windups, et cetera. ASIC has deregistered Gold Valley Iron. How is it that the minister of the department found Gold Valley to be a fit and proper company to hold a mine lease in Tasmania, and, as we’ve established from a previous question, what is the fit and proper person test?
Mr ABETZ – As I understand it, the sale was a commercial transaction, being a sale of the company and its assets. Therefore, the transfer of the mining lease was not required.
Ms BADGER – Weren’t you required as the minister to sign off on the transfer of that lease as one of the assets through the sale?
Mr ABETZ – No.
