Repeal of the Mt Lyell Acid Drainage Reduction Act 2003
Mt Lyell Acid Drainage Reduction (Repeal) Bill 2025
House of Assembly
Legislative Council
Assent
Introduced by: The Hon Guy Barnett MP (LIB)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
“Honourable Speaker, I move - That the bill be now read the second time. The purpose of this bill is to repeal the Mt Lyell Acid Drainage Reduction Act 2003. There are two key reasons for the act to be repealed.”
Shane Broad ALP
“Honourable Speaker, I rise to, on behalf of Labor Party, discuss the Mt Lyell Acid Drainage Reduction Repeal Bill 2025. I can say from the outset that we will be supporting it. This is a sensible thing to do.”
Tabatha Badger GRN
“Honourable Speaker, I rise on behalf of the Greens for our contribution on the Mt Lyell Acid Drainage Reduction (Repeal) Bill. Thank you to the minister and the department and staff for the briefing last year really appreciate it. I’m going to read the room and not talk about chemistry, but thank you for that lesson there.”
Roger Jaensch LIB
“Honourable Speaker, I rise to make a contribution on the Mt Lyell Acid Drainage Reduction (Repeal) Bill 2003, and I thank my colleague, minister Ogilvie, for bringing this bill and for her introduction to it and her second reading speech.”
News articles and press releases
Second reading speech -- Mt Lyell Acid Drainage Reduction (Repeal) Bill 2025
Hon Madeleine Ogilvie MP, Minister for Environment — 2025-09-25
The Mt Lyell copper mine is one of the most significant copper mines in Australian history and has been in care and maintenance since 2014 after the tragic deaths of three miners. For over one hundred years, the Mt Lyell operation has provided jobs for generations of Tasmanians and was considered an economic mainstay of Tasmania's West Coast.
Second reading speech -- Mt Lyell Acid Drainage Reduction (Repeal) Bill 2025
Hon Madeleine Ogilvie MP, Minister for Environment — 2025-09-25
Despite this, there remains some acidic waters entering the aquatic system sourced from the mine area via the percolation of rain waters through the waste rock dumps and old underground workings, draining to the Queen River.
Second reading speech -- Mt Lyell Acid Drainage Reduction (Repeal) Bill 2025
Hon Madeleine Ogilvie MP, Minister for Environment — 2025-09-25
The Mt Lyell Acid Drainage Reduction Act was made to provide a framework for a private company to treat acid mine drainage on behalf of the State, and to incentivise them by giving them the rights to any metals or minerals recovered through that treatment process.
Second reading speech -- Mt Lyell Acid Drainage Reduction (Repeal) Bill 2025
Hon Madeleine Ogilvie MP, Minister for Environment — 2025-09-25
The Act has never been used, and it is not foreseeable that it will ever be used. The lack of viable technology and the decreasing quality of metals in the acid drainage that has occurred over time, reduces the potential for any future commercially viable operation.
Parliament backs better environmental outcomes at Mt Lyell
Guy Barnett MP, Minister for Environment and Climate Change — 2026-08-13
The best environmental outcome for Mt Lyell and the West Coast is a safe, modern operating mine, enabling active management and rehabilitation rather than long-term inactivity. Reopening the mine would provide the opportunity for active treatment and management of legacy acid drainage under strict regulatory oversight by the Environment Protection Authority. By repealing this redundant legislation, we are removing a barrier to investment and supporting the most effective pathway to improved environmental management at Mt Lyell.