What it does
The Iron Ore (FMG Chichester Pty Ltd) Agreement Act 2006 (WA) is a short ratifying statute that gives the force of law to a detailed State Agreement scheduled to it. Section 4 provides that the scheduled agreement is ratified and that its implementation is authorised. The scheduled agreement is the Iron Ore (FMG Chichester Pty Ltd) Agreement executed on 1 December 2005 between the State of Western Australia, FMG Chichester Pty Ltd (the Company) and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (the Guarantor). Section 6(1) declares that the Agreement operates and takes effect despite any enactment or other law. Section 6(2) amplifies this: where a provision of the scheduled agreement expressly or by implication purports to modify or exclude the operation of an enactment for a purpose or in relation to a person or thing, that modification or exclusion applies to the extent or for the period mentioned in the provision or necessary for it to have effect. Section 6(3) specifically excludes the application of section 96 of the Public Works Act 1902 to any railway constructed under the Agreement. Section 6(4) preserves the Government Agreements Act 1979, which provides the legal framework for State agreements in Western Australia. The Agreement itself is a comprehensive contractual and legislative framework covering the development, construction and operation of an iron ore mining project in the Chichester Ranges area of the Pilbara. It governs tenure (Agreement Mining Tenements), royalties, infrastructure (rail spur lines, roads, power, water), local content obligations, further processing of iron ore into metallised agglomerates, community development plans, assignment, default, arbitration and termination. The Act gives the Agreement statutory force and enables it to override inconsistent legislation, subject to the modifications expressly set out in the Agreement. The Act does not itself contain operational provisions; the 6 sections are purely enabling. All substantive rights, duties and mechanisms are in Schedule 1.