Environment and Sustainability, Freight Rail

Palaszczuk calls for timeline on Adani mine and rail approval

Coal. Photo: Shutterstock

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called for a final approval deadline to be set in place for Adani’s long-delayed Carmichael Coal Mine and Rail Project.

Mining company Adani’s controversial project, located in the Galilee Basin region of Queensland, has been subject to repeated approval delays over the last two years.

Adani’s plan for the development encompasses an open-cut and underground coal mine capable of producing 60 million tonnes of product a year, and a 189-kilometre freight rail line running from the mine to port facilities at Hay Point and Abbot Point.

Premier Palaszczuk has now advised that the state co-ordinator general meet with Adani and the project’s independent regulator tomorrow to force a final deadline.

“The community is sick of it, I’m sick of it, everyone is sick of the delays,” Palaszczuk said.

“Everyone has had more than enough time to resolve these issues and for some reason that has not occurred – that all ends now.”

Adani Mining chief executive Lucas Dow stated that if an approval timeframe is not concluded within the next two weeks then the meeting will have represented a stalling tactic by the Queensland Labor Government.

“We are looking forward to receiving a call from the coordinator general so we can meet first thing tomorrow morning, and at that meeting I will be seeking the timeline for approving the two outstanding management plans come to a conclusion within the next two weeks,” Dow said in a statement.

“Any timeframe for a decision on these outstanding management plans longer than the next two weeks is nothing more than another delaying tactic by the Queensland Labor Government designed to delay thousands of jobs for regional Queenslanders.”

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