Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley considering a veto on Shire of Coolgardie’s mining rate hike

A regional council’s controversial decision to slug mining companies with a 98 per cent rate increase has caught the attention of Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley. The Shire of Coolgardie last week signed off on the near-doubling of mining rates for the 2026 financial year. The rates apply to land being used for mining and mineral exploration. Proposed council rate rises are generally rubber-stamped by bureaucrats at WA’s Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries on behalf of the Minister. But a spokeswoman from the department said Ms Beazley is “actively involved” in reviewing Coolgardie’s “substantial increase”. “Given the substantial increase proposed and the breadth of concerns being raised from impacted ratepayers, the Minister will be actively involved in reviewing this submission and is working very closely with the DLGSC,” she said. “The Shire of Coolgardie will be advised of an outcome once the Minister and DLGSC have reviewed the request.” The scandal-plagued shire originally proposed a 119 per cent mining rate rise for the 2026 financial year. It needs the extra revenue to dig itself out of a deep financial hole. That proposal early last month drew fierce backlash from industry players, with more than 20 miners and explorers formally voicing their disapproval. This included Mineral Resources, which in the region notably owns the operational Mt Marion lithium mine and mothballed Bald Hill lithium mine. It said there was a “lack of transparency and inadequate justification” behind the proposed increase. On top of the mining rate hike, the Chris Ellison-led company is in line to cop a 91 per cent rate rise on its workforce accommodation facilities. “For MinRes, it has been calculated the proposed change to these categories would result in an increase of over $400,000 in rates payable year-on-year,” MinRes stated. Following the backlash, the shire last week trimmed the proposed mining rate hike — from 119 per cent to 98 per cent — which unsurprisingly did little to pacify those impacted. “There’s no scenario where a 98 per cent increase in rates is reasonable, there needs to be a complete reset,” Association of Mining and Exploration Companies chief executive Warren Pearce previously The West Australian last week. “The industry is sick of being taken for a ride to underwrite financially unsustainable regional councils.” Mr Pearce said junior explorers are baring the brunt of the rate hike pain and that the Coolgardie situation was not an outlier in WA. “For example, Halls Creek lifted rates by 75 per cent for explorers last year,” he said. “This is what happens when the State Government doesn’t step in to deal with major local government issues.”