Water treatment and beneficial reuse facilities that are required by conditions of petroleum titles and are essential for carrying on petroleum exploration activities are properly characterised as being for the purpose of 'petroleum exploration' under cl 6(d) of the Mining SEPP, even where they treat produced water from multiple petroleum titles. The Mining SEPP prevails over the Infrastructure SEPP for such developments. The word 'land' in cl 18 of the Mining SEPP is to be read as the land on which the relevant overall development is taking place, not confined to the boundaries of a single petroleum title. The broader question of the meaning of 'prospecting' under the PO Act in the context of cross-title water treatment was left open.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 12 later cases that cite this judgment.