Big miner lauds WA reforms after premier cooks greenies

“I’m not reflecting on anyone at all, I’m simply making an observation on some of the things I see around the industry and the community.”

Gas giant Woodside’s plans for seismic testing off the WA coast were delayed for months after the Environmental Defenders Office mounted a legal challenge on behalf of a traditional landowner earlier this year.

Mr Cook said he would not consider pulling funding from the EDO, which has helped Indigenous groups launch legal action against major projects across Australia and receives funds from state and federal governments as well as donors.

The EDO received about $150,000 from the WA government in the 2022-23 financial year, state budget papers show.

Asked about Mr Cook’s comments about green groups employing old mining tactics, federal Resources Minister Madeleine King said it would be “unsavoury in the extreme” to see them used again.

“The premier rightly observes the practices of the past which were detrimental to Indigenous communities,” Ms King said.

“It would be unsavory in the extreme to see them repeated in any way.”

Ms King said a range of recent court challenges demonstrated a need to clarify regulations, which she was currently reviewing.

The reforms to WA’s environmental protection laws announced on Tuesday aim to expedite resources projects across the state. Mr Cook said they were integral to the world’s decarbonisation journey but were being caught up and delayed by onerous local departmental processes.

He said changes to the state’s laws were designed to speed-up approvals processes, not prevent protest and opposition to specific projects.

“It’s not an opportunity or effort to say we want to stop protests, that we want to stop people having a different perspective from the proponents,” he said.

“It is simply saying that the actual process of assessment and approval should be much more predictable, should not be duplicating processes and should be providing certainty for everyone.”

Hancock Prospecting projects chief executive Sanjiv Manchanda said the move by the WA government was encouraging but added the reforms needed to be implemented rapidly.

“We stress, this cannot be modest reform and must be implemented with a sense of urgency,” he said.

“It is telling that overseas governments lay out the red carpet for investment, and our excessive tape and regulations do the very opposite.”

Mr Cook said he hoped people were “keeping an eye” on the way environmental groups were operating in WA.

“I think it’s important for all of us, when we engage with Aboriginal groups, that we respect their right for self-determination, that we don’t seek to find outliers that can then enhance your particular position. We have to be respectful,” he said.

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek was contacted for comment regarding Mr Cook’s remarks.