Wish List for Politicians

OK.

I have attempted to combine the thoughts from a few threads; mainly Tributers’ and mine but also reflective of what I think I have been picking up from other posts.
It is a crack at it because I am concerned that unless we crystallize our thoughts we will not get past just tossing it around. There will never be a perfect set of words. Also there is no common voice for our interest.

These items constitute a 'wish list' for people to lobby their local pollies with, and in particular Shooters and Fishers; and Katter‘s party. Detect your Pollie Please! Especially in Queensland with the election happening -- but also in Tassie where you are under fire. If minor parties don't suit your taste -- that's fine -- lobby your major parties. Ideally they should all get this message.

Many of these items refer to specifics in NSW which as Australia’s most populous state is sadly under-represented by current laws here. However I believe that they could easily be adapted for other jurisdictions where there is energy from forum members to push this stuff along. Use what you want!

If you have other ideas please continue to post them and the posts provide a good reference source. If you have some specialised knowledge about these laws please share it.

I would love some of the sellers of pot’s an pans and detectors to have a say on this topic...they have been remarkably silent.

GENERAL

1. That regular reviews and amendments to the Crown Lands Act, Mining Act, Forestry Act and NPWS Act [or whatever is relevant in your location] enshrine and strengthen the right to prospect for minerals/gems/rocks/gold and to provide minimally regulated opportunities to prospect in areas where it has been traditionally done.
2. That fossicking and recreational prospecting receive similar consideration in planning and legislation as fishers, shooters and 4WDers who also seek to use public land for their health and enjoyment.
3. That Government consults via online channels and other means with representatives members of the fossicking/prospecting community when considering laws which have an impact on this activity.
4. Recognition that fossicking or recreational prospecting is a low environmental impact activity and needs to be considered separate to the interests of the broader mining industry. That is to say: a person with a metal detector, a pick, pan or portable sluice, is NOT a mining company and should be exempt from the burden of regulation that is required there for such companies.
SPECIFIC
1. That fossicking/prospecting (with hand tools or detectors) is allowed on western lands leases in NSW.
2. That the Mining Act be amended to enable prospecting/fossicking on Exploration Leases (excluding the immediate areas of active mining sites) subject only to the authority of the land owner where that is not the Crown.
3. That the Mining Act be amended to include a provision for small leases to be taken out, and on existing Exploration Leases in certain circumstances. (Although it is in the legislation now you cannot do it unless the Minister approves. And he/she has only ever approved them at opal and sapphire fields).
4. That the NPWS & Crown Lands Acts be amended to recognise that the right to fossick/prospect is retained on non-urban crown land with a history of previous use by prospectors.
5. Where the status of that land has changed since 1980, that fossicking/prospecting rights be restored. (Note: the only reason I chose 1980 is that that seemed to be when detecting became serious).
6. That the Mining Act regs/schedules be amended to allow removal of up to 1000 grams in gold or gems per day.
7. That the right to collect (find and keep) meteorites in NSW is retained (or established in other states).
8. That the many historic dedicated public fossicking areas are not closed and sold-off or leased in such a way that excludes fossicking/prospecting.
9. That the NPWS ACT is changed to allow for recreational fossicking/prospecting on historic goldfield/gemfield areas within NPWS reserves currently categorised as State Conservation Areas.
10. That the rights to fossick/prospect in State Forests, State Parks (e.g. Burrendong) and travelling stock routes and Travelling Stock Reserves remain in place or are restored where they have been removed since 1980.
11. That local councils and tourism authorities be encouraged to establish fossicking areas (gold and gems) in appropriate areas of their shire as means to encourage regional tourism. That an online register with accurate maps is maintained of these locations.

That is a great start.
You should be thanked by everyone here for taking the time to set these points out.
Well done.

Hey Imadogman ... well thought out and very well done dude maybe a petition should be drawn up with all this wish list and we flood our local and federal members? could get family and friends involved too.
really FLOOD em

We all need to got on board and support Imadogman with these ideas before it's to late, no good complaining then.

cheers dave

You have my vote Imadogman I totally agree with what you have written.

Cheers

Mike.

Hi Imadogman,

These are all excellent issues to be raised with the pollies.

If I may I'd like to offer some advice on how to go about it:

1. Don't lobby for all your items at once, it is too overwhelming. Pick three key issues, ie. A real Miners Right, Access to land where there is evidence of historic mining activity, changes to the act to increase the amount of minerals that can be removed per day. Prepare a brief statement on each. Dont make it long winded short simple messages. Then write up the detailed versions for each item. Keep them separate. Only use the brief versions and keep your powder dry as it were.

2. use an industry association to represent the majority (suggest using PMAV), a lone individual will not get a hearing;

3. dont lobby during an election unless it is absolutely necessary, there are too many voices trying to get heard and your message can get lost in the din. Instead wait until there is a victor and then work with them to effect change. It will be more effective than the hollow promises made during an election. The best way to do this is use the mechanisms of government, working groups. Establish a working group, if possible get the minister involved in the group. The working group is where you can raise your detailed versions of these items and introduce other items but wait for the government representatives to ask for additional items it will carry more weight, in the meantime be happy with getting you main three items through the layers of red tape. You will find the government representatives very supportive and they will do what they can within the constraints they have to work in, you need to be mindful of this;

4. Begin a public awareness campaign, use radio and industry publications to produce ground swell support;

In the meantime I am still working on setting up a Queensland Industry association and am drafting up the Rules of Association which I will put up on a post shortly.

Regards,

Grant

Grant has some very good points as well.

I cleaned this wish list up a bit:

NSW Prospectors and Fossickers wish list

GENERAL
1. That regular reviews and amendments to the Crown Lands Act, Mining Act, Forestry Act and NPWS Act enshrine and strengthen the right to prospect for minerals/gems/rocks/gold and to provide minimally regulated opportunities to prospect in areas where it has been traditionally done.

2. That fossicking and recreational prospecting receive similar consideration in planning and legislation as fishers, shooters and 4WDers who also seek to use public land for their health and enjoyment.

3. That NSW government and its ministries consult via online channels and other means with representatives of the fossicking/prospecting community when considering laws and regulations which have an impact on this activity.

4. That fossicking and recreational prospecting is properly classed as a low environmental impact activity which needs to be considered separate to the interests of the broader mining industry. That is to say: a person with a metal detector, a pick, pan or portable sluice, is NOT a mining company and should be exempt from the burden of big miner regulation under the Mining Act.

SPECIFIC
1. That the right to fossick/prospect (with hand tools or detectors) is restored on western lands leases in NSW.

2. That the NPWS & Crown Lands Acts be amended to retain the right to fossick and prospect on non-urban crown land with a history of previous use by prospectors. Further, where the status of that land has changed since 1970, that fossicking/prospecting rights be restored.

3. That the Mining Act be amended to enable prospecting/fossicking and the taking out of small mining leases on areas under Exploration Lease (excluding the immediate areas of active mining sites) subject only to the permission of the land owner where that is not the Crown (Western Australia has such a law).

4. That the Mining Act be amended to allow removal of up to 1000 grams in gold or precious stones per day. Presently it is 100 grams. In the rare event of a large nugget or gem, that the upper limit is waived altogether.

5. That the many historic dedicated public fossicking areas in NSW are not closed and sold-off or leased in such a way that excludes fossicking/prospecting. As in (3), where that has occurred since 1970, that such rights are restored.

6. That the NPWS Act be changed to protect and/or restore the right of recreational fossicking/prospecting on historic goldfield/gemfield areas within NPWS reserves that are currently categorised as State Conservation Areas, State Parks (e.g. Burrendong), travelling stock routes and travelling stock reserves.

7. That old goldfields in declared national parks be made available to recreational fossicking in a similar way to state forests.

8. That the right to collect (find and keep) meteorites in NSW is retained.

9. That local councils and tourism authorities be encouraged to establish fossicking areas (gold and gems) in appropriate areas (even private land by agreement) of their shire as means to encourage regional and interstate prospecting tourism.

10. That an online register with accurate maps is maintained of dedicated areas available for fossicking in NSW to facilitate access.

Excellent list Imadogman.

I wouldnt limit the access to crown land to "non-urban" areas.

In Qld for example most of the historic gold mines were in urban / semi-urban areas, Enoggera, MtCootha, Brookfield, etc.

Urban areas are always going to spread over time so limiting the access might come back to bite later.

Suggest you just leave it as access to crown land and then you can argue the finer points later.

With your permission, I would like to use this list as the basis for our lobbying in Qld also with a few local changes?

Regards,

Grant

Thanks for that feedback Grant. I'll work it in.

By all means use this as a basis for lobbying activity in Qld. That is exactly the reason I put it together. There is always a lot of talk about "we need to do something" but there is really no clear idea of what it is we need to do! I think this list helps that. It is not definitive and will evolve over time I am sure.

The same goes for members in other states and territories -- if there is antything useful in this list for you, then please just go for it, adapting for your local conditions as you need to.

If members are doing things though, please let us know back through the forum so we can have a better understanding of what's going on. Woof Woof.

These are all minor issues when you understand that nearly all of our pollies are corrupt and really work for the banks and large corporations who fund there election campaigns.And who give them realy highly payed jobs when they suddenly leave pollitix.
And that our biggest problem is that our unbacked fiet currency is owned by a foreign company called RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA which is owned by the WORLD BANK (Share holders = Rothschilds, Rokerfellars, Royal Familys) and that nearly all of our tax is used to pay the interest on these loans that are so large that they can never be payed back.

Thanks for that Imadogman, I will keep the forum posted on what we do in Qld.

Well said, do we lobby our local pollies or the pollies who have the goldfields in there electorate