The Queensland Government has passed legislation which it says will bring the state’s resource legislation ‘into the 21st century’.

State Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Andrew Cripps, said that amendments contained within the Mines and Other Legislation Amendment Bill will introduce a competitive tendering framework for the exploration of the state’s highly prospective coal tenures.

“Amendments to Queensland’s mining and petroleum and gas laws will see the introduction of a more modern approach to managing the State’s resources industries,” Mr Cripps said.

“These proposed changes will expand and improve the competitive tendering process for petroleum and gas introduced last year.

“By allocating exploration rights through a competitive tender process, we will ensure all Queenslanders benefit from the timely development of the state’s most resource-rich areas."

Mr Cripps said industry criticism of the cash tender system had been misleading and inflammatory.

“Claims that large mining companies would be advantaged through a competitive cash bidding framework are unfounded,” he said.

“The majority of future land releases for exploration tenure will continue to be released through a tender process that does not involve cash bids.”