Tuesday, 10 September 2019

 Mr RICH-PHILLIPS (South Eastern Metropolitan) (16:59): I am pleased to make some remarks on the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Amendment Bill 2019, which is somewhat ironically titled, which I will come to in due course. The purpose of this bill is to establish the Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority, to legislate the parameters around the rehabilitation of mine land and to establish the Declared Mine Fund. The bill establishes a Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority, clarifies rehabilitation, closure and post-closure obligations and sets up the post-closure fund. The Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority will be the authority to take on the Latrobe Valley mine rehabilitation commissioner’s current roles in relation to the Latrobe Valley Regional Rehabilitation Strategy. The bill enables the minister to apply this new regime to future mines that present a significant risk to public safety, the environment and infrastructure using the minister’s existing capacity under statute to declare mines. It is worth pointing out that currently the only declared mines in Victoria are the Latrobe Valley coalmines.

The bill provides a framework for the monitoring and maintenance of mine land post the closure of mining activity or the ending of mining activities. The bill establishes a post-closure fund for each mine, and the authority will use the post-closure fund to meet the ongoing costs of managing declared mine land post closure. The bill enables the public to comment on the granting and refusal of licence applications, allows landowners and mine licence-holders to include agreements on non-financial compensation in registered compensation agreements and extends the term of prospecting licences to seven years from the current five years. These prospecting licences were first introduced in 2010.

Despite the title of the bill being ‘mineral resources (sustainable development)’, as I have indicated in the summary of the contents of the bill, this bill is actually about winding up mines. It is about putting in place a framework for the decommissioning and subsequent rehabilitation of mines rather than actually about the sustainable development of the mining industry.

The bill arises from the Latrobe Valley mine rehabilitation structure, which of course came about as a consequence of the fire which occurred in the Latrobe Valley in February 2014, which as members of the house will know was a time when we had some fairly severe fires burning in Gippsland. One of those fires managed to get into the coal pit at Hazelwood, which led to a very substantial fire that burnt in the Morwell community for an extended period of time. The impact of that fire in that open-cut mine on that community was extensive. It went for a long period of time and had a very significant impact on that local community, and members who were in the Latrobe Valley while that fire was burning would well appreciate the very direct and real impact of that fire just in terms of amenity and appearance, let alone the subsequent impact on health and the like.

Following that fire in February 2014 there was a board of inquiry which made a number of recommendations as to the management of that fire and lessons to be learned from the management of that fire, and there was a subsequent investigation chaired by, from memory, Bernard Teague, a former Supreme Court justice, in 2015 which made a number of other recommendations around the remediation arising from that fire. Those recommendations led to the Latrobe Valley mine rehabilitation commissioner’s role and subsequently to the legislation that the house is being asked to address today.

The legislation, in concert with the existing Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990, will allow the Minister for Resources to declare mines which will come under this framework if they meet the criteria I stated earlier—that is, they present a significant risk to public safety, the environment or infrastructure. What is not clear from the legislation is how that definition will be applied in a practical sense in terms of making declarations for future mines. As I indicated earlier, currently the only mines which are declared under the existing statute are the Latrobe Valley mines. There are of course numerous other mines across Victoria which could be subject to the ministerial declaration brought within this framework.

The coalition does not oppose this bill. We believe that on the whole the measures are reasonable, though we note that many of the operative functions of the bill will in fact be put in place by regulation and that those regulations have not yet been made available to the house, to the community or indeed to the industry. A similar bill was introduced by the government in the last term of Parliament. At that time it was, I understand, focused on the Latrobe Valley mines. This bill now provides a mechanism whereby the regime can be extended beyond Latrobe Valley mines, and that has not been subject to consultation with the broader minerals sector in this state. That is something we believe should have happened and should happen with respect to the regulations which are going to be required to give this bill effect.

I note that, as I said at the outset, the bill is somewhat ironically named a ‘sustainable development bill’ when it is about decommissioning, and it is worth reflecting on the status of mining in Victoria and the way in which that standing has deteriorated over the last 20 years. I had a look earlier today at the contribution that the mining industry now makes to the Victorian economy according to the most recent state accounts published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The ABS reported that in the financial year to 1998, which is 21 years ago, mining made up just under 2.5 per cent of gross state product, so it was an important part of the state’s economy. By last year—June 2018, which is the last reported state accounts data from the ABS—that share had fallen from 2.5 per cent of the state’s economy to just 0.77 per cent of the state’s economy. Now, you can explain that away by saying that the rest of the Victorian economy has grown more rapidly, which is certainly the case—and it is not surprising to see a shift in the industry mix in such a way where our primary and secondary sectors like agriculture and mining become a smaller proportion of the overall economy as we see growth in the tertiary sectors—but, interestingly, the sector has also declined in absolute terms, in real terms. The ABS in that same publication show that on a chain volume measure, which is the constant price measure the ABS now use, in 1998 the mining sector was worth $5.8 billion to the Victorian economy. In 2018 that had fallen to under $3.3 billion. So we have seen a decline in the mining sector over the last 20 years, a period of time in which the Labor Party has been substantially in government, and you can see a very real correlation between some of the red tape which has been introduced—some of the complexity that has been introduced—and that decline in mining activity in this state.

Mrs McArthur: The attacks on gold.

Mr RICH-PHILLIPS: Mrs McArthur refers to the attack on gold. We of course saw last year out of the blue a new royalty imposed on gold. This was on the back of, in the previous year, or two years earlier, the Treasurer making an attack on coal with the unexpected coal royalty, which led to the subsequent closure of the Hazelwood power station and all the ramifications that we have seen flow through from that subsequently. So this government has not been supportive of the mining sector, and we have seen the decline of that sector over the last two decades while this government has been in office.

As I said, the coalition does not oppose this bill. To the extent that this bill is about remediation of closed mines or closing mines and a framework for that, we think it is reasonable, though much will rely on what is in the regulations and the government undertaking consultation on those regulations in a way in which it did not on the bill—the reintroduced bill, which is of course a broader application of the 2018 bill—but we do note that a bill titled ‘sustainable development’ is a misnomer in an environment where we have seen the mining sector contract by 40 per cent under this government.

 Ms GARRETT (Eastern Victoria) (17:10): I am really pleased to be able to speak on this particular piece of legislation. It is terrific to see the minister in the house. I congratulate her for bringing the bill forward. Before I proceed to my short contribution, it is really interesting, isn’t it, Mr Gepp, that we are getting lectures about how we manage the economy and create jobs from those opposite. We had four years of absolute inertia and four years of them being asleep at the wheel, literally and figuratively—we had people falling asleep in Parliament. Those of us who were in the lower house would remember people literally falling asleep in the middle of contributions. So here we are having lectures from people about how to stimulate the economy and create jobs. Thank you, but I think we can look at our own track record both during the time of the Andrews Labor government and of course during the Bracks-Brumby years.

We know that this bill had its genesis in the horrors of the Hazelwood mine fire in 2014, a fire that ran for some 45 days and had devastating and long-term impacts on the community and on the firefighters who fought that very difficult mine fire. There were huge amounts of smoke inhalation. There were complaints of severe health problems throughout the community. Schools and childcare centres were closing their doors because of the toxicity of the atmosphere, and families and single people were frightened about their health and wellbeing and what this meant for the long-term capacity of their communities. As a result of that the board of inquiry was established, and this found that the current legislative and regulatory framework is simply not up to scratch when dealing with these particular situations. In regard to mine rehabilitation, the closure process was unclear and did not meet community expectations. The inquiry made a total of 50 recommendations, and 38 of those have already been implemented, with the other 12 on track.

As a part of that response to that very significant deep and wideranging probe we have this legislation, which establishes the Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority, and this will oversee any declared mine land. Currently the Minister for Resources can declare sites but only if they present significant risks to public safety, relating to perhaps geotechnical or hydrogeological risks, and we have only got three sites declared as such sites currently, all of course in my electorate, in the Latrobe Valley. This bill removes red tape, allows the minister to declare sites if there is a risk to the safety of the public, the environment or infrastructure and adds other reasons for which the minister can declare a site a mine relevant to these issues. Any mine with a current mining licence can be declared if it presents a risk to public safety, infrastructure or the environment. So these are significant changes.

The bill also provides a new framework where licensees will have an obligation to declare a rehabilitation plan—a very significant development—and meet all closure criteria and, importantly, establishes the Declared Mine Fund, which will be used to manage the ongoing costs of declared mine land after operations finish. It is really very important in Victoria. We have a thriving mining sector. We are very proud of that mining sector. It does provide thousands upon thousands of jobs directly and indirectly, but it is important that that comes with a responsibility to make sure that we do not have another Hazelwood mine fire. That is absolutely critical.

The bill allows the public to comment on licence applications, making for a fairer community engagement process, and increases the ability of the public to participate in that process. Currently there are only objections allowed. Really importantly, the bill extends the term of prospecting licences from five years to seven for small-scale—up to 5-hectare—mines. The current framework is quite limiting because it takes several years for the licensee to fulfil conditions to commence work. This changes all of that.

So, as I said, we are very proud of our mining sector. The ABS data shows some 16 000 jobs are in our sector, but we do need to find the balance and we need to ensure that mine operators operate responsibly, even after they close their doors—in fact some may say especially after they close their doors. We as a government have taken that very strong stand that we cannot allow those communities with beautiful families, young children and the elderly located near mining sites to be exposed to serious health and safety risks or to be left with permanent scarring on the landscape and unusable land. I would like to finish with a quote from the Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Resources, who said:

We’re ensuring private power companies can’t cut and run like they did with Hazelwood …

This is what this bill is ultimately about, and I commend it to the house.

 Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (17:16): I am pleased this afternoon to make a short contribution on the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Amendment Bill 2019. As my colleague Mr Rich-Phillips has indicated, the Liberals and Nationals will not be opposing this bill. This bill relates to three mines specifically in my electorate of Eastern Victoria and in the Latrobe Valley, where my office is, and I speak with many of the constituents who work in this area and who are affected by various operations or the closure of operations over time. This bill establishes a Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority, which will be governed by a board.

I note that another member for Eastern Victoria Region just raised the issue of licences—prospecting licences being elongated from five to seven years, which is a most sensible length to have—but what I find in speaking with both the recreational prospectors and miners and those who do it for a living is that there is a great sense of vulnerability in relation to this industry as a whole. They are frustrated on one level in terms of Earth Resources and the very clunky and arduous nature of some of the requirements to have licences and go through the various procedures. They are all in favour of course of doing the right thing and getting those licences, but they feel that there is a lot of arduous and clunky activity they have to go through for that. They would really very much appreciate speaking with Minister D’Ambrosio in this case and/or Minister Symes, who is at the table today. Indeed I raised this issue back on 28 May that the PMAV, the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria, would very much like to have a conversation with both Minister D’Ambrosio and Minister Symes, but to date they have not been contacted, there has been no time set aside to meet with them and they are very disappointed that this has not occurred. Daniel Andrews said, ‘I will govern for all of Victoria’. Well, they are very valuable members of the Victorian population and they are not being listened to, and there are genuine concerns that need to be addressed.

Now, in relation to Hazelwood and the Hazelwood fire, we know that the mine rehabilitation commissioner was established in 2017. Indeed I have had the pleasure—and I will say the pleasure—of speaking to the commissioner, Mr Rae Mackay, on a number of occasions in a variety of settings, and I have had briefings with him. But two years later we now see this bill establishing the Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority to deal with specifically, at the moment, those three Latrobe Valley mines of Hazelwood, Yallourn and Loy Yang. They are indeed vast voids. I have had the privilege, again, of going down into them throughout the course of my time in this place to see and understand that it is a world of its own in those voids. There are specialised technicians with highly skilled operations working there. Post Hazelwood, once that absolute debacle of a situation in which there was no phased closure is over and that mine is empty, it is about what to do with the Hazelwood pit. Engie have been working most considerably and also most collaboratively with the community. I will say that I have had a number of briefings with Engie in a variety of forms. Lauren Carey is the communications manager there. They are very intent on keeping the community abreast of what needs to happen there.

But I know Mr Mackay as the mine commissioner has put on the table really the only thing that will happen to the Hazelwood pit, which is to be a partial or full pit lake. While that sounds great on some levels, it also has consequences. We certainly know that it is a vast, vast void to fill, and I think, if I have got my facts right—I am looking for them now—there is something like in the vicinity of two Sydney harbours full of water to fill that pit lake to its top. So that is a huge amount of water. At the moment there are a lot of pumps being pumped to keep the aquifers down and out of the pit, so there will be water rising when those aquifers are able to fill or to flood, but that certainly is only still a skerrick of what will be required. We talk about the Hazelwood Pondage, but that will only represent 4 per cent of the entire region of the void to be filled, so there is not a quick fix to fill this; indeed they talk about decades to fill that site.

The other thing that is very frustrating for people, particularly the wonderful people of the Latrobe Valley Yacht Club, is that because of the closure of that Hazelwood Pondage we have seen they have now lost their home and in effect have had to go into recession or go to other lakes. There is also the caravan park and the loss of recreational use of that space. When that pondage is drained, that area is gone entirely. The government needs to continue to support—well, actually I will stop there because they have not really been supporting the Latrobe Valley Yacht Club. They need to get on board and support them in order for them to relocate to a new position. If the government has some new information that they would like to bring forward about what they are doing to support the Latrobe Valley Yacht Club to move elsewhere, potentially to Lake Narracan, that needs to come forward and they need to be assured of that information. They need to be assured that there will be a time line for the yacht club to rehome and for the infrastructure and facilities to be there.

The other point that is concerning is: where will the mine rehabilitation process access that water to fill the Hazelwood pit? There are other water storages—Blue Rock, Moondarra and Lake Narracan. At the moment they are being used for recreational use and water, of course. Where will that come from? Will they all be drained? What would that look like? These are the things that the community is asking: what will happen to those water storages?

If you look at the end of that issue in relation to the Hazelwood pit, then we move on to Yallourn power station. It is slated to close in 2032. At the moment it provides 22 per cent of base load dispatchable power to our state, and the government needs to continue to work with the Yallourn power station and EnergyAustralia to support them and not let them hang out to dry. We still need our power in the state. We still need strong, reliable, dispatchable power as well. There will be remediation required in 2032 for the Yallourn power station and there needs to be plans put in place for that. These huge structures do require a considerable amount of remediation and to be made safe, certainly for the public, and to mitigate danger and fire, but also for use into the future, but not at the cost of the loss of other very important infrastructure as well.

With that, I say again that we take a not-oppose position. There are certainly some sensible inclusions in this bill, but the government needs to (a) continue to support the people of the Latrobe Valley, and (b) continue to support the Yallourn power station to continue to keep our lights on and not create what they did in the Hazelwood situation where they upped the ante on the coal royalty tax to the point where it just was not feasible. They need to do it better in the future, and part of that will also be the remediation of the voids once various power stations have closed.

 Dr KIEU (South Eastern Metropolitan) (17:25): I rise to contribute to and support this bill, the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Amendment Bill 2019. As previous speakers have mentioned, the bill is the result of the Hazelwood mine fire inquiry, and it fulfils our government’s commitment to implement its recommendations.

It has become very, very clear that the regulations at the moment are not up to scratch in dealing with the issue of mine rehabilitation and remediation. At the outset I would like to say that, contrary to what the opposition may have said, the mining and extractive industries are critical and crucial components of Victoria’s economic wellbeing and development. But on the other hand we need to ensure that they maintain their social licence, that the rehabilitated landscapes are safe and that communities living nearby are not left suffering from permanent blights once mining finishes.

The bill ensures that mining licensees are required to contribute appropriately to the costs of closure and rehabilitation. The scheme will initially apply only to the three Latrobe Valley mines, the largest in our state of Victoria, but there is scope for the framework to be applied to other mines which pose a danger to the community or the environment. It should be emphasised that this is not about punishing or restricting mining; it is only about ensuring we have regulations that require licensees to act in a responsible way that is commensurate with community expectations and safety.

As we know, in February 2014 a fire took hold at Hazelwood, and it took 45 days—more than a month and a half—before it could be quelled. As a result the Governor of Victoria appointed the Hazelwood Mine Fire Board of Inquiry, and some recommendations were proposed as a result. The Andrews Labor government is now committed to meeting these recommendations through the Hazelwood mine fire inquiry implementation plan. The bill establishes a Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority to oversee declared mine land and in future to declare mines.

The framework within the bill, and the authority, will incentivise mine operators to properly plan for the end of a mine’s life and further enable said operators to take the best action to prepare a safe and sustainable landform during a project. The better that a mine operator tries their hand at rehabilitation, the lower the potential post-closure costs will be for the operators and for the public. It should be emphasised that the bill will also create a Declared Mine Fund, which is a post-closure trust fund. The fund will include funds received from former declared mine land licensees and declared mine land holders to contribute to the authority’s functions. It will also include any rehabilitation bond funds retained by the responsible minister and any amounts the government may elect to contribute.

It is important to note that this bill is not anti-mining or anti the mining community; it is exactly the opposite. Whether it is the steel laid on Victoria’s train tracks, the bricks in our houses or the gold in a wedding ring, our state of Victoria has a long history with mining and mining communities, and it is our responsibility to ensure they are protected. For declared mine sites there needs to be greater planning around the lifecycle of a mine, so that when it is eventually closed, as it must, the land previously utilised will be safe for the local community, and the environment will be protected and restored. The Hazelwood fire is something that nobody, especially the people of the Latrobe Valley, ever want to see repeated. I commend the bill to the house.

 Mr ELASMAR (Northern Metropolitan) (17:31): I also rise to contribute to the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Amendment Bill 2019. Essentially this bill is about occupational health and safety and long-term safer, sustainable employment in the mining industry in the Latrobe Valley. As we all know, and as we have heard from other speakers, in February 2014 a fire erupted at the Hazelwood coalmine that lasted 45 days and had significant adverse impacts on the local community. Local residents suffered dreadful reactions to toxic smoke billowing from the burning coalmine at Hazelwood. A subsequent inquiry into the cause and aftermath of this toxic blaze recommended that a statutory authority be established by 2026, or earlier if one of the mines should close.

In June 2016 the Andrews Labor government committed to adopting the inquiry’s recommendations through the Hazelwood mine fire inquiry implementation plan. It is important to note that Engie ceased mining at Hazelwood in March 2017. The bill proposes to support and protect the Latrobe Valley and other Victorian communities that face long-term impacts from mining and quarrying.

Of significance to mine workers is that the bill establishes a Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority, it clarifies the processes of rehabilitation, closure and post-closure obligations and sets up a post-closure fund. The bill will empower the minister to apply this new regime to future mines that present a significant risk to public safety, the environment or infrastructure using an existing statutory power to declare mines. The Latrobe Valley coalmines are currently the only declared mines. The bill provides for the establishment of the Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority on 1 July 2020. The authority will take over the Latrobe Valley mine rehabilitation commissioner’s current roles in relation to rehabilitation and the Latrobe Valley Regional Rehabilitation Strategy. The authority will be empowered to monitor, maintain and manage registered declared mine land.

What occurred at Hazelwood ought never be allowed to happen again to innocent residents and workers of the Latrobe Valley. For many years the valley has been sustained by the mining industry, and it is not the intention of the bill to set in place structures to stifle employers or employees. What it does is enshrine safety measures for people and at the same time provide long-term stability to the mining industry. This is a good bill because it recognises the imperatives of protecting jobs in the industry, but it puts people’s safety first. It is expected the proposed changes will come into effect from 1 July 2020, thus allowing time for proper consultation with key stakeholders to occur prior to the rehabilitation plan being implemented. I strongly commend the bill to the house.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I would just like to acknowledge a former member in the gallery, Ms Carolyn Hirsh. Welcome.

 Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Resources) (17:35): It is an honour to make a short contribution and sum up the bill before the house today. Of course it is my first bill as the Minister for Resources. In fact it is my first bill as a minister in the house. It was short and sweet—that is kind of appreciated. Thank you to those who made a contribution.

I would like to address some of the points that were made. Contrary to Mr Gordon Rich-Phillips’s talking down of the industry, I would say that the mining equipment, technology and services sector is a vibrant and exciting industry for Victoria. It contributes about $14 billion to the state economy and employs more than 16 000 people directly. The latest investment figures for 2017–18 show that the development of the mineral resources industry resulted in $73.7 million in mineral exploration expenditure, which is going up exponentially each year—an 81 per cent increase from the year previously. There was $468 million in private new capital investment and $825.9 million in mineral production value. So this is certainly an industry that is providing a lot to our state.

In relation to gold, we are absolutely experiencing a gold boom, and there are a lot of exciting developments and future exploration or activities that will be opened up later in the year. I would absolutely make no apology for Victoria benefiting from that gold.

Mr Rich-Phillips: Bendigo?

Ms SYMES: Bendigo is going great guns. The gold price is absolutely going through the roof, and Victorians are able to benefit from some of that boom by virtue of getting a royalty based on an asset that they own—that the state owns. That is a valuable investment that should come back to our state.

Mr Rich-Phillips, I am not sure who you have been speaking to in relation to a lack of consultation. There has been extreme consultation with industry, and I can assure you that there will be consultation. All of the representative bodies have been consulted. This has been a pretty extensive process. This bill started two ministers ago; I am the third minister. I would absolutely commend the department for bringing me up to speed as the new minister and for their ongoing consultation as this process has drawn out. As we know, the bill was not able to be passed through the upper house due to the timing of the election last year.

I would just make some comments briefly about the bill and why it is important for the house. Many of us do remember the horrific events that took place on 9 February 2014 when fires ripped through the Hazelwood mine. The mine fire burnt for 45 days, sending smoke and ash over Morwell and surrounding areas for much of that time. I do want to use this opportunity to commend the first responders, firefighters, health workers, councils, public servants, social workers and volunteers who stepped up to assist during that catastrophic event a couple of years ago.

Of course it was a couple of weeks later that the Governor of Victoria appointed the Hazelwood Mine Fire Board of Inquiry, which went on to find that the legal requirements for mine rehabilitation and mine closure were unclear. The recommendations made to the government have been well canvassed, and of course this bill enacts three of those recommendations—12, 15 and 17.

While the mining and extractives industries are critical to Victoria’s economic wellbeing—and I have outlined the contribution that they make to the state’s economy—we do need to ensure that rehabilitated landscapes are safe and that nearby communities are not left with permanent blights once mining finishes. The bill will ensure that mining licensees are required to contribute appropriately to closure and rehabilitation costs, and I am glad to see that the house is supportive of that; it is a sensible approach. The scheme will initially apply only to the three Latrobe Valley mines, but there is scope, which is appropriate, for the framework to be applied to other mines which may pose a risk to the community or the environment. The bill adds other reasons for a mine to be declared if it presents water quality or hydrological risks, and of course, as minister, I would take advice on these risks before being in a position to provide advice on whether something should be declared or not. I do want to point out that this is in no way about restricting mining. It is about ensuring we have regulations that require licensees to act in a way that is in line with community expectations once mining has finished.

The bill establishes the Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority to oversee declared mine land, as was recommended by the inquiry. From 30 June 2020 the newly established Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority will replace and succeed the Latrobe Valley mine rehabilitation commissioner, Rae Mackay, who I must say is doing an outstanding job. Local communities have already been heavily involved in discussions around the future rehabilitation requirements as part of community discussions with the commissioner, particularly through Susan Lloyd, who chairs the Latrobe Valley Mine Rehabilitation Advisory Committee. I would like to thank her and the team for their ongoing interest in the community and the impact of mine rehabilitation going forward.

As I have said, the commissioner and government agencies are collaborating and are consulting and will continue to work together on planning and producing the Latrobe Valley regional rehabilitation strategy, which will set out the future rehabilitation requirements of the mines.

I would just like to again thank the department, who have been very patient with this bill. Obviously it is the second time around, with a new minister. In particular I would like to thank Linda Bibby and Laura Cronin for their advice and capacity to be patient with me in answering all my questions on, as I said, my first bill as a minister in the house, and the rest of the department, who will be working on this bill, developing the regulations. I think it is a great outcome for the community generally but particularly for those in the Latrobe Valley. I commend the bill to the house.

Motion agreed to.

Read second time.

 Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Resources) (17:42): I move, by leave:

That the bill be now read a third time.

Motion agreed to.

Read third time.

The PRESIDENT: Pursuant to standing order 14.27, the bill will be returned to the Assembly with a message informing them that the Council have agreed to the bill without amendment.