The Liberal Party has a proud record of supporting the mineral resources sector in South Australia, without which the State would still be a non-player in Australia’s mineral resources industry.

The Tonkin Government, against fierce opposition from the Labor Party, ensured that the Olympic Dam mine became a reality. This opposition included the famous contribution of then parliamentary advisor Mike Rann in the form of the booklet, ‘Uranium – Play it Safe’.

In the booklet Rann claims that ‘It is clear from the evidence presented that the economic, social, biological, genetic, environmental and technical problems associated with the mining of uranium and the development of nuclear power continue to be unresolved.’ and that, ‘Only the naïve could be satisfied that the abovementioned problems have been solved.

Fortunately for South Australia, despite the alarmist resistance, a Liberal Government made sure the Olympic Dam mine went ahead and the State has been reaping the benefits ever since.

Subsequent Liberal governments have maintained the legacy of supporting the growth of mining in South Australia. The previous Liberal Government provided exploration incentives through the Targeted Exploration Initiative South Australia (TEISA) - A program which the Rann Government has continued, albeit with a rebadging to "PACE" (Program for Accelerated Exploration).

The Liberal Government in 1999 established the Mining Industry Taskforce which recommended, amongst other things, the setting of targets for both mineral resource exploration and for mining activity. These targets were accepted by that Government and continue to be the targets of the State Labor Government.

With the success of mineral resource exploration, a number of new mines have opened or are in advanced planning stages. South Australia is on the cusp of a mining boom but the Rann Labor Government has failed to meet the ongoing challenges.

The PIRSA Mineral Resources Group has not been resourced efficiently to meet the growth in workload, leading to delays in permissions and frustrations to the industry.