Fighting for fairer access to land in NSW
"Represent the interests of prospectors and fossickers"
Sluicing and Highbanking
Members please note that due to ongoing work on this issue, NAPFA will not be publicly releasing all of its information. Members will be provided with the latest updates on this issue in the NAPFA NEWS sent directly to members in the following newsletters:
April 2020
January 2020
August 2019
May 2019
March 2019
November 2018
October 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
December 2017
IF YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY OF THESE NEWSLETTERS PLEASE EMAIL YOUR NAME AND A REQUEST FOR WHICH NEWSLETTERS YOU WANT TO:
Some Recent History
Some history for our newer members, and to remind those fatigued with the many years of this………………..
The six months from August 2017 to January 2018 saw some serious progress in proving the facts, to the then Deputy Secretary Kylie Hargreaves.
NAPFA was promised a directive that the Division of Resources and Geoscience (DRG) would use their own risk-based process and apply it to our equipment, rather than rely on other arguments (often with non-factual reasons) to ban our equipment.
Another key promise was that NAPFA would be able to deal with environmental agencies independently of DRG, who would wait until NAPFA came back to the table with the outcomes.
By March 2018 Deputy Secretary Kylie Hargreaves was removed from the position in a veil of secrecy. According to the ALP, and journalists at the time, only Minister Don Harwin knew the reason why.
By June, DRG had taken steps to penalise the Prospectors and Fossickers of NSW further with more draconian proposals. Nothing powered, what so ever.
To do so however, required a change in Regulations and/or Guides. The battle raged.
NAPFA fought these proposals and tackled the Resources Regulator (who would have to enforce any compliance) with vigour.
NAPFA found numerous “holes” in the so-called intentions, and the ball was left firmly in the Ministers hands by July 2018. NAPFA only received an answer from the Minister shortly before Christmas.
NAPFA were confident that there would not be any regulation changes leading up to the election, and hence no further restrictions to fossickers rights.
Some very serious research into NAPFA’s past correspondence and dealings in many areas paid off. NAPFA found what we believe is the true reason for the attack on the high banker sluice. This set NAPFA on a course of presenting the facts, demonstrating a lack of process and obfuscation by DRG, rather than simply lobbying for what we wanted.