Origins of the legislation and policy relating to minerals in conservation

Abstract

On 4 September 1990 I introduced into Parliament the Protected Areas (Prohibition on Mining) Bill – sometimes referred to as PAPOM. It was a government bill, introduced in my role as minister of conservation. The genesis of the bill was long and tortuous, though by no means as long as the seven years it took for parts of it to find their way into the statute book as the Crown Minerals Amendment Act No 2 1997.