Please note: This is an extract from Hansard only. Hansard extracts are reproduced with permission from the Parliament of Western Australia.
House: Legislative Assembly- Introduction and First Reading
Date: Wednesday, 27 October 2004
PDF of this document.
Member: BROWN
Subject: KAMBALDA WATER AND WASTEWATER FACILITIES (TRANSFER TO WATER CORPORATION)
BILL 2004
Page: 7397b - 7398a / 1
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KAMBALDA WATER AND WASTEWATER FACILITIES (TRANSFER TO WATER CORPORATION) BILL
2004
Introduction and First Reading
Bill introduced, on motion by Mr C.M. Brown (Minister for State Development),
and read a first time.
Explanatory memorandum presented by the minister.
Second Reading
MR C.M. BROWN (Bassendean - Minister for State Development) [2.49 pm]: I move -
That the Bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of the Bill before the House is to facilitate the transfer of ownership
of the Kambalda water and waste water facilities to the Water Corporation, extinguish
any interests of any other person in those facilities, bar any claims for compensation
as a result of the transfer and provide the Water Corporation with ongoing access
and ownership of the facilities. This legislation is necessary because ownership
of the Kambalda water and waste water pipes is fragmented. This occurred, in
a large number of cases, because ownership of the pipes had been inadvertently
transferred to the owners of individual properties. To put this proposed legislation
in the context of the development of Kambalda, I will provide some background
on the town and WMC Resources Ltd nickel operations. The town of Kambalda was
built by WMCR in the late 1960s and early 1970s to accommodate the company’s
work force on the back of the first nickel boom. Kambalda and much of Kambalda
West - collectively called Kambalda - were built and serviced in about 18 months.
The Nickel Refinery (Western Mining Corporation Limited) Agreement Act 1968
and the Nickel Refinery (Western Mining Corporation Limited) Agreement Act Amendment
Act 1970 governing the nickel operations at Kambalda, Kalgoorlie and Kwinana
came into operation after much of the services and the twin towns had already
been constructed. This has been one of the State’s most successful agreement
Acts, meeting all downstream processing requirements. In the mid 1980s, WMCR
commenced a home ownership program in Kambalda, which resulted in most of the
properties being sold to private owners.
The Government has worked with WMCR over recent years for an orderly transition
of the Kambalda services to government agencies and the Shire of Coolgardie;
that is, to “normalise” the town services. The key remaining services
required to be normalised are the water and waste water services, which were
built by WMCR and have been operated by the company for almost 40 years. The
Nickel Refinery (Western Mining Corporation Limited) Agreement Act 1968 and
the Nickel Refinery (Western Mining Corporation Limited) Agreement Act Amendment
Act 1970 provide for the water and waste water services to be relinquished to
the State, without compensation for those facilities. In November 2001, Cabinet
approved the Water Corporation taking ownership and control of the Kambalda
water and waste water facilities from WMCR. However, the formal transfer of
the facilities has not yet occurred because the pipe infrastructure was not
reserved to WMCR when the facilities were first installed in the town and when
it subsequently sold the properties to individual landowners. This has resulted
in ownership of sections of the pipes passing to landowners and, therefore,
fragmentation of the ownership of the water and waste water system. This does
not happen in other towns because state legislation - the Water Agencies (Powers)
Act 1984 - maintains the ownership with the agency that constructed it. The
most efficient and effective means for dealing with the ownership and access
issues associated with the Kambalda water and waste water facilities is the
enacting of legislation to transfer ownership of the water and waste water facilities
to the Water Corporation. This will not entail any physical disruption to landowners
and will ensure that the service is placed in the hands of the appropriate authority,
the Water Corporation.
The Bill confers ownership of the water and waste water mains on the Water Corporation and also provides for the application of the Water Agencies (Powers) Act 1984 to the Kambalda water and waste water facilities to provide the Water Corporation with ongoing access to the pipe infrastructure for the purpose of operating and maintaining the systems. The legislation will extinguish all interests of any other person in the water and waste water facilities once transferred to the Water Corporation upon commencement of the legislation. This is necessary, as it was never intended that individual landowners own sections of what is a community service. The legislation also provides for the placement of a notification on each lot within the Kambalda area to provide information on the location of pipes and also because in a large number of cases the pipes are on a non-standard alignment. The legislation will ensure that residents in Kambalda have a secure and reliable water and waste water service and that the liability for ongoing maintenance of the system does not inadvertently rest with residents. Once the legislation is proclaimed and commences, the Water Corporation will become responsible for the maintenance, repair and management of the system. In the meantime, WMCR will continue to maintain and provide the service. This process is intended to provide minimum disruption to landowners.
A community information program has been carried out in Kambalda by WMCR, the Water Corporation and the Department of Industry and Resources to inform the landowners, community and stakeholders of the situation with the water and waste water facilities and the proposed legislation. The program included letters to landowners, newspaper advertisements and community information sessions in Kambalda and Kambalda West on 16 and 17 October 2004. The Kambalda community has been advised and is aware that legislation to transfer the water and waste water facilities is to go before Parliament.
WMCR ceased mining nickel in Kambalda in 2000 and has been slowly withdrawing from the town and selling its mineral titles, thereby enabling previously mothballed mines to be reopened by third parties. The Government has facilitated some of these sales over the past three years by amending the Nickel Refinery (Western Mining Corporation Limited) Agreement Act 1968 and 1970 and the Nickel Refinery (Western Mining Corporation Limited) Agreement Act Amendment Act 1970 to enable the transition of the mineral titles to general laws of the land. This has enabled the sale of the St Ives gold operations and the reopening of the Long-Victor nickel mine by third parties, resulting in the creation of new jobs in the region and contributing to growth of the town. WMCR will continue to operate its nickel concentrator in Kambalda and the nickel smelter in Kalgoorlie to process not only its ore from operations in the northern goldfields, but also the ores of the new companies that have acquired former WMCR mines in the Kambalda region. As part of its exit strategy from Kambalda and the normalisation process, WMCR recently announced a $1.75 million grant to the Kambalda community in recognition of nearly 40 years of partnership with the town. WMCR has provided $1.5 million to the Shire of Coolgardie towards a new community recreation facility and $250 000 to support the construction of a seniors’ facility. WMCR is to be commended on its approach to exit the town with which it has had such a long and fruitful association. I commend the Bill to the House.
Debate adjourned, on motion by Mr P.D. Omodei.
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