This is almost certainly a box ticking exercise. If you read the referral which the Company was obviously forced to make, the Company states it does not consider the proposal to be a controlled action. The Federal Department disagreed.
Had the Company referred themselves at the very beginning then they wouldn't be in this embarrassing situation now. This is obviously going to cost some money ($34K plus expenses) and cause disruption. It remains to be seen if the party who instigated this process provided the Federal Department with anything which could lead to the Federal decision deviating significantly from the WA EPA decision.
It's worth noting this is a post-Juukan Department, under Federal Labor. The decision mentions threatened species and communities. Communities means NT and NT tends to equal time, delays and the need for negotiation. APC could find itself now facing months before they are approved with an approval stipulating some additional NT terms.
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