Government flips to side with mining company to scrap Indigenous heritage zone

The Queensland government controversially agreed to scrap an Indigenous heritage protection zone for a mining company co-founded and part-owned by a former LNP operative.

The "surprise" agreement between the state's environment department and the mining company Broken Hill Gold Limited is laid out in a court action brought by the traditional owners in Cape York, alleging they were denied an opportunity to be heard.

It revealed a U-turn by the environment department to ditch the exclusion zone, after twice rejecting the mining company's proposal.

The zone had prohibited activity within 100 metres of significant cultural sites at the Alice River gold project about 300 kilometres north-west of Cairns.

The ABC has confirmed the mining company's sustainability manager is former Queensland Young Liberals' president Shane Goodwin, who holds 1.352 million shares in the entity.

Mr Goodwin has maintained a close association with the LNP and the Liberals. He was a campaign manager for a successful Queensland LNP 2024 candidate, and a former advisor to federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming.

The ABC does not suggest Mr Goodwin or the minister has acted in any way inappropriately.

Mr Goodwin said he has no current roles with the LNP or Liberal Party.

The mining company said Mr Goodwin's "other activities" were unrelated to its applications for the exclusion zone to be removed and the applications were dealt with through established processes.

Ministerial meeting

Asked about the process, Mr Goodwin and the company confirmed he was personally involved with drawing up the original environmental authority applications and spoke to the environment minister's office about it.

Mr Goodwin said he advised Environment Minister Andrew Powell's office that the mining company intended to seek amendment to the environmental authorities.

He said the minister's office told him that this would be a matter for the department "through the ordinary regulatory process".

He added that the department had gone on to refuse those applications.

Mr Goodwin said he spoke with department officers "in the ordinary course of preparing, lodging and processing the applications".

As the company sustainability manager, Mr Goodwin also met with the minister on March 18, 2025, the same day it made an application to remove the protection zone.

He said this was a meeting "with representatives across the resources sector" and that the mining company's amendment applications were not discussed.

The ABC understands that this meeting with the minister was scheduled for earlier in the month but had to be rescheduled to March 18.

The mining company said the applications were "dealt with through established regulatory and legal processes".

Both the mining company's applications were rejected by the department after opposition by Olkola People's native title trustee the Ut-Alkar Aboriginal Corporation.

In late 2025 the mining company launched an appeal in the Land Court that was due to be heard in May this year.

In March this year, nearly eight weeks before the matter could be heard, the department did an about-turn, making joint submissions with the mining company to the Land Court to lift the exclusion zone requirements.

The Land Court upheld the mining company's appeal and scrapped the protection zone.

In a post on LinkedIn, Mr Goodwin described the decision as a "pretty important (under the radar) outcome".

He said the buffer zone requirement was a "misalignment" of the system and that "cultural heritage was already regulated through a detailed statutory framework involving traditional owners".

"Happy to chat if this is something you are dealing with," he added.

Then in May, Ut-Alkar sought judicial review of the Land Court decision arguing it had been excluded from the proceedings and denied natural justice.

'Controversial' submissions

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled in Ut-Alkar's favour, noting "transparently controversial assertions" in the joint submissions made by the mining company and the department.

In his ruling, Justice James Henry found the environment department's submission was "at odds" with its earlier position.

He noted the department had previously argued that lifting the exclusion zone had the potential for an "adverse impact" on cultural sites, and that "potential limitations" to the Olkola's human rights "outweighed the potential benefit" to the mining company.

But in the environment department's joint submission, it argued that there was "no evidence … an 'exclusion zone' — be it 100m or another size — is anything other than an arbitrary restriction".

Justice Henry said this submission was "surprising" given the environment department's chief executive made the condition that the regulation falls under.

Another "controversial submission" by both parties was that the exclusion zone "adds nothing to existing protections", he noted.

Justice Henry found the exclusion zone in fact gave "an unqualified, concrete geographical protection" unlike any other under state or federal regulation.

He did note one "divergence" in the parties' opinions.

The mining company said lifting the ban on activity within 100m of significant sites would not limit the Olkola People's human rights, he said.

But the department conceded that expanding the mine's operations "inherently increases the risk of some environmental harm" and this "would limit the Olkola People's right to protect their cultural heritage … and protect their country's environment".

Despite this, the department and mining company agreed that "any potential limitation of these human rights is reasonable and demonstrably justifiable", Justice Henry said.

Justice Henry also found Ut-Alkar had been denied a "reasonable opportunity to be heard", and that there was a "realistic possibility" of a different decision being made if they had been.

Ut-Alkar was never notified of proceedings and only found out about the mining company's latest bid by chance, he wrote.

Shortly after Ut-Alkar learned about the appeal, the process was "accelerated", he found.

Ut-Alkar only found out about the Land Court's decision a week later, on April 7, Justice Henry wrote.

He ruled the orders be set aside, and the matter be returned to the Land Court.

The mining company told the ABC it accepted the court's findings, but it stood by its position that the exclusion zone was unnecessary to protect Indigenous heritage.

"The proposed amendment was not intended to remove or diminish cultural heritage protections … the company's work programs are designed to protect cultural heritage," it said.

In a statement, it said it had no legal requirement to notify the traditional owners but had understood the department "was engaging with the Native Title Party, and that this engagement was continuing".

"The company was not aware, before the consent orders were made, that the Native Title Party intended to seek joinder in the Land Court proceedings," it said.

A spokesperson for the department said it would be inappropriate to comment because matter was before the courts.

Background navigating public policy

In June, the company moved to demerge the Alice River gold project to a company called Manda Resources, before changing its name from Pacgold Limited to Broken Hill Gold Limited.

Mr Goodwin is still listed on Broken Hill Gold's website as its sustainability manager.

He was a Pacgold non-executive director from 2021 to November 2025, according to ASIC records, and in 2024 was listed in the company's top 20 shareholders.

He is also a director of SC Group, a Queensland business that promises to "help plan and deliver strategies for complex and unique infrastructure projects" and offers "community, stakeholder, cultural and First Nation's people engagement".

Mr Goodwin's association with the Liberals dates back to the early 2000s when he was the Queensland Young Liberals president.

He was campaign manager for state Liberal Rebecca Young's successful bid for the seat of Redlands in 2024 and was name-checked in her maiden speed for his "invaluable guidance".

In April 2025, Mr Goodwin was listed as having made "non-political" donation to the Queensland LNP of $2,200 in Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) records.

And in 2017, he separately donated $1,300 and $2,500 to the Queensland LNP, according to the ECQ records.

In 2023, Mr Goodwin made an unsuccessful bid for chairman of the Liberal's Bowman Federal divisional council.

In 2025, the state government appointed Mr Goodwin as a director of the Gladstone Ports Corporation.

And in February this year the state government appointed Mr Goodwin to the South Bank Corporation Board, which oversees development of 44 hectares of Brisbane city river frontage.

In announcing his appointment Deputy Premier Jarod Bleijie lauded Mr Goodwin's "background in navigating complex public policy and major project environments".