![Premier Barry O'Farrell. Premier Barry O'Farrell.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-agfeed/2056221.jpg/r0_0_420_280_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
UPDATED: THE NSW government has passed legislation to cancel the mining exploration licences, without compensation, for NuCoal’s Doyles Creek and Cascade Coal’s Mt Penny and Glendon Brook coal tenements.
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The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) recommended the course of action in its findings handed down in December, which said the licences were so “tainted” they should be expunged or cancelled and any pending applications related to the mines refused.
“The ICAC found these licences were tainted by corruption involving former Labor Ministers Ian Macdonald and Eddie Obeid,” Premier Barry O’Farrell said.
“The NSW Government has now acted to cancel these corrupt licences and right the wrong of the former Labor Government."
The Mining Amendment (ICAC Operations Jasper and Acacia) Act 2014 was drawn up to:
- Restoring public confidence in the allocation of the State’s valuable mineral resources
- Promoting integrity in public administration above all other considerations, including financial considerations, and deterring future corruption
- Placing the State, as nearly as possible, in the same position as it would have been had those relevant licences not been granted
The amendment states it will:
- Cancel the relevant licences and ensure that the tainted processes have no continuing impact and cannot affect any future processes
- Ensure that the State has the opportunity, if considered appropriate in the future, to allocate mining and prospecting rights in respect of the relevant land according to proper processes in the public interest
- Ensure that no person (whether or not personally implicated in any wrongdoing) may derive any further direct or indirect financial benefit from the tainted processes
- Protect the State against the potential for further loss or damage and claims for compensation, without precluding actions for personal liability against individuals, including public officials, who have been implicated in the tainted processes and have not acted honestly and in good faith