Inquiry into forestry and mining operations on the Tiwi Islands

Terms of reference

The Senate has referred the following matters to the Committee for inquiry and report by 26 October 2009:

forestry and mining operations on the Tiwi Islands

1. an assessment of the environmental, economic and community impacts of existing and proposed forestry and mining operations on the Tiwi Islands including compliance with relevant environmental approvals and conditions;

2. a review of governance arrangements relating to existing forestry and mining operations on the Tiwi Islands, including the examination of consent and approval processes to date;

3. in respect to forestry operations, an examination of the adequacy of contractual, commercial and legal arrangements between project proponents and operators and the Tiwi Land Council;

4. an examination of the economic opportunity costs associated with existing developments including forestry operations;

5. an examination of the prospects for alternative economic development opportunities and impediments for the Tiwi Islands including sale and promotion of cultural products, community development activities, land and sea management, and opportunities for involvement in future carbon trading and emissions offsets schemes; and

6. any related matters.

The Committee is seeking written submissions from interested individuals and organisations preferably in electronic form online or sent by email to eca.sen@aph.gov.au. The email must include full postal address and contact details. The committee would prefer submissions by Friday, 13 March 2009.

Alternatively, submissions may be faxed to (02) 6277 5818 or sent to:

The Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Environment, Communications and the Arts
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Australia

Submissions become committee documents and are made public only after a decision by the Committee. Persons making submissions must not release them without the approval of the Committee. Submissions are covered by parliamentary privilege but the unauthorised release of them is not.

Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to the Parliament House TTY number (02) 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. These tools are available at: http://access.adobe.com/. If you require any special arrangements in order to enable you to participate in a committee inquiry, please contact the committee secretary.

For further information, contact:

Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Environment, Communications and the Arts
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia

Phone:	+61 2 6277 3526
Fax:	+61 2 6277 5818
Email:	eca.sen@aph.gov.au