E/CN.4/2002/24/Add.1 page 34 (i) New South Wales (NSW) 68. The procedures applied by the New South Wales government with regard to native title and mining vary due to a number of NSW legislative exceptions to the right to negotiate in the Commonwealth Native Title Act (NTA): (a) The Commonwealth Minister’s determinations in February 2000 under section 26C NTA that certain land and waters in the Lightning Ridge and White Cliffs regions are “approved opal or gem mining areas”; (b) The Commonwealth Minister’s determinations in February 2000 under section 26A NTA replacing the RTN for “low-impact” exploration acts with consultation regarding the protection of native title rights and interests and the signing of an access agreement; (c) The Commonwealth Minister’s determinations in November 1996 under section 26 (3) of the NTA (prior to its amendment) that the grant and renewal of mineral and petroleum exploration licences and special prospecting authorities are not subject to the RTN at the time of grant, but instead are subject to a condition that the holder is precluded from prospecting on any land over which native title may exist without the prior written consent of the New South Wales Minister for Mineral Resources. The result of this scheme is that the right to negotiate does not automatically apply to the grant or renewal of any mineral or petroleum exploration licence or prospecting permit in NSW. (ii) Queensland 69. During 1998 and 1999 the government amended the Mineral Resources Act 1989 (Qld) and enacted the Land and Resources Tribunal Act 1999 (Qld) for the purpose of establishing alternative provisions10 to the right to negotiate under the NTA (the “alternative provisions”). Significant opposition was voiced to the alternative provisions, including by the Queensland Indigenous Working Group (QIWG), which argued that the alternative provisions were discriminatory and should not be allowed. QIWG objected in particular to the alternative provisions because: (a) They relied mainly upon the 1998 amendments to the NTA and so constituted a repudiation of the compact between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians made in 1993 and embodied in the NTA; (b) The effect of the alternative provisions would be to remove or reduce native title holders’ procedural rights in circumstances where opportunities for agreements had not been fully explored; and (c) The 1998 amendments to the NTA, upon which the alternative provisions relied, had been criticized by CERD in decision 2 (54) as being inconsistent with Australia’s international treaty undertakings.