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Request for audit
Approval of the Yeelirrie uranium mine
Response provided
Responded: Thursday 4 February 2021
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The Auditor-General responded on 4 February 2021 to correspondence from Senator Sarah Hanson-Young dated 14 January 2021, requesting that the Auditor-General conduct an audit of the approval of the Yeelirrie uranium mine by the Federal Government in 2019.
Auditor-General's response
4 February 2021
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
Australian Greens Senator for South Australia
By email: Senator.Hanson-Young@aph.gov.au
Dear Senator Hanson-Young
I am writing in response to your letter of 14 January 2021 requesting that I consider an audit of the approval of the Yeelirrie uranium mine under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) by the Federal Government in 2019.
As noted in your letter, on 25 June 2020 I tabled Auditor-General Report No.47 of 2019–20, Referrals, Assessments and Approvals of Controlled Actions under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 in Parliament. The audit concluded that the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment's administration of referrals, assessments and approvals under the EPBC Act was not effective. It examined the processes in place at the time of the Yeelirrie uranium mine approval in 2019, including for approving projects, setting conditions, and prioritising projects.
The audit included an examination of whether an effective process had been followed by the department leading up to the decisions of the Minister. Under the EPBC Act, individual approval decisions are at the discretion of the Minister for the Environment, provided that the Minister has considered the appropriate factors under the Act. The matters you raise in your letter largely go to the substance of the decision made by the Minister, while the role of the ANAO in such cases is more to focus on the processes leading up to the decision. This was sufficiently covered by the audit.
I do not propose to conduct a further audit to re-examine the processes in place by the department for the approval of actions at the time the Yeelirrie uranium mine was approved, or the merits of that individual approval decision by the Minister.
You may be aware that the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit is conducting an inquiry into Regulatory Activities, including an examination of Auditor-General Report No. 47 of 2019-20.
I will continue to monitor risks relating to the department's administration of the EPBC Act, including the implementation of audit recommendations, for future audit coverage in the ANAO's Annual Audit Work Program.
Yours sincerely
Grant Hehir
Correspondence from Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
Transcript of letter from Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
14 January 2021
Mr Grant Hehir
Auditor-GeneraI
Australian National Audit Office
GPO Box 707
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Dear Mr Hehir
Yeelirrie uranium mine
I write to request an audit of the approval of the Yeelirrie uranium mine by the Federal Government in 2019.
I refer you to the investigation into the approval of the mine reported by the ABC on its 730 program on 13 January 2021 and online today.
The report outlines a number of deeply concerning issues in relation to the mines approval including:
- The approval by former federal environment minister Melissa Price was made on the eve of the 2019 Federal Election, the night before the government went into caretaker mode;
- On 10 April at 9.31pm, the night before the election was called, Ms Price was emailed the complete 'decision package' containing more than 50 files and hundreds of pages. The approval is dated April 10 meaning Ms Price signed it the same night and within just hours of receiving hundreds of pages;
- The approval was made without key environmental protections strongly and repeatedly recommended by the Government's own experts;
- The mining company told federal environment department officials in 2017 a condition requiring it to demonstrate it would not cause the extinctions of rare species was 'not realistic and not likely to be achieved - ever!'. This condition was removed in the final approval;
- The foreign mining company and former resources minister Matt Canavan intervened and requested that the approval process by expedited; and
- The site of the mine is environmentally significant and a biodiversity hotspot which is at risk if this mine proceeds.
I note your report 'Referrals, Assessments and Approvals of Controlled Actions under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999' dated 25 June 2020, wherein you detail numerous failings by the Department to administer the EPBC Act including approvals of controlled actions, and suggest the Yeelirrie mine approval is a case riddled with similar failings of improper process, decisions made against Department advice and political interference and therefore worthy of examination by your office.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
Australian Greens Spokesperson for Environment and Water