6 Activities and Achievements FEDERAL P olicy Platform to maximise A ustralias resource potential This comprehensive Platform was released in preparation for the ne xt Federal Election and covers a number of public policy issues including supporting e xploration streamlining assessment processes fscal policies climate change energy workforce industrial relations and red tape W e have since received commitments that there will be no change to the diesel fuel credit arrangements R esources 2030 The R esources 2030 T askforce was created in early 2018 to mak e recommendations to the Federal Government to ensure A ustralia s resources sector can continue to provide prosperity for future generations AMEC made strong representations on issues critical to members and AMEC President Will R obinson was a member of this T askforce The T askforce reported a number of recommendations critical to the future success of industry addressing our nation s e xploration challenge and what we must do to fnd and develop new resources AMEC is continuing to advocate to the Federal Government to commit to implementing these recommendations and provide funding where needed Successful introduction of Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive JMEI Following strong advocacy by AMEC the Federal Government implemented the Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive in April 2018 for the 201718 year The second round of applications was oversubscribed for the 201819 year AMEC provided considerable input in the design of the JMEI which allows eligible companies to pass tax credits to their A ustralian shareholders Successful prebudget submission and JMEI funding allocation A major component of the AMEC prebudget submission was ongoing funding for the newly designed Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive W e were successful in having 100m allocated to the Incentive over 4 years A SIC Forwardlooking S tatement guideline AMEC work ed closely with A SIC and the A SX to develop clearer guidance material for the interpretation of production targets and fnancial data using discounted cash fows with emphasis on Information Sheet 214 The issue continues to be closely monitored by all parties S treamlined approvals across all jurisdictions In order to reduce costly delays AMEC is working with all A ustralian jurisdictions to mak e the processing of e xploration and mining development applications more cost efcient and reduce unnecessary delays R esearch and Development T ax Incentive AMEC has continued to lobby the Commonwealth Government to maintain this important tax incentive T o remove some uncertainty the A T O has issued mining specifc guidance material as a direct result of AMECs request The Government has continued to provide funding to the R esearch and Development T ax Incentive program but with proposed higher integrity provisions to reduce the cost of the program More recently AMEC has opposed proposed legislative changes to the incentive which includes an annual 4m cap Exploration Incentive Scheme Cofunded Drilling AMEC is continuing to strongly promote the fnancial social and scientifc benefts of cofunded drilling programmes in all S tate and T erritory Governments W A NSW NT and Victoria have recommitted to fund this scheme Native Title reforms The Government released an Options P aper for consultation in late 2017 with the intent of improving the efciency efectiveness and