South Australian Current Acts

MARALINGA TJARUTJA LAND RIGHTS ACT 1984 - SECT 22

22—Application for mining tenements and sacred sites

        (1)         Where an application has been made for a mining tenement in respect of a part of the lands, the Minister of Mines and Energy and the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs shall consult with Maralinga Tjarutja to determine whether any sacred site or part of a sacred site registered on a register kept pursuant to section 16 is within the land to which the application relates.

        (2)         Where the Minister of Mines and Energy and the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs are satisfied that a sacred site or part of a sacred site registered on a register kept pursuant to section 16 is within the land to which the application relates, the Minister of Mines and Energy—

            (a)         shall provide the applicant with such information as to the sacred site and its location as he and the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs determine to be appropriate; and

            (b)         shall, subject to subsection (3)—

                  (i)         in granting any mining tenement upon the application, make necessary provision for the protection of the sacred site—

                        (A)         in the case of a sacred site that has been identified with particularity—by excluding land from the tenement or imposing conditions on the tenement; or

                        (B)         in the case of a sacred site that is known to exist but which has not been identified with particularity—by imposing conditions on the tenement to protect the sacred site until it is so identified; and

                  (ii)         in the case of a sacred site referred to in subparagraph (i)(B), when it is so identified, make further or other provision for the protection of the site by excluding land from the tenement or imposing conditions on the tenement.

        (3)         The Minister of Mines and Energy shall not, in granting a mining tenement relating to land to which another mining tenement (being a mining tenement granted in respect of the land after it became subject to the application of this Act) previously related, make provision under subsection (2)(b) for the protection of any sacred site within the land unless provision for the protection of that sacred site was made under that subsection in granting that earlier tenement.

        (4)         Land may be excluded from a mining tenement under this section, and, subject to subsection (5), conditions may be imposed, varied or revoked under this section in respect of a mining tenement, by notice in writing to the holder of the tenement.

        (5)         Conditions shall not be imposed under this section in respect of a mining tenement, and any conditions so imposed shall not be varied or revoked, without the consent of Maralinga Tjarutja.

        (6)         Where information is provided as to a sacred site and its location pursuant to subsection (2), the Minister of Mines and Energy may, in consultation with the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, impose conditions prohibiting or restricting disclosure of the information and any person who knowingly contravenes any such condition shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a penalty not exceeding $5 000.