The Carmichael mine and rail project in the Galilee Basin in Queensland has received confirmation that it will proceed, creating jobs in regional Queensland.
Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the Government’s resource policy for the Galilee and Surat Basins, and North West Minerals Province put strict requirements on project proponents.
“Opening up these three regions for development has the potential to support thousands of new jobs that are needed in regional centres along the coast as well as in outback Queensland,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
While in Townsville, Premier Palaszczuk officially opened the regional headquarters of the Carmichael Coal project.
In December 2016, Ms Palaszczuk met with representative of the project in to confirm that:
- Regional headquarters and remote operations centre would be based in Townsville
- A rail and port operations headquarters in Bowen
- Mining services based in Mackay
- Rail maintenance and provisioning yard in the Mackay-Bowen region
- Project sourcing centres in Townsville, Charters Towers, Rockhampton, Emerald, Clermont and Moranbah
- The shortlist for the fly-on fly-out (FIFO) hub is Townsville and Rockhampton, with a decision pending
“Most significantly at that meeting, I secured agreement that the workforce for the Carmichael Coal project would be sourced from regional Queensland and it will not use foreign workers on 457 visas,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“This means there will be more jobs for Queenslanders and importantly more certainty for investment in North Queensland.
“What we are seeing with the opening of this office, is a real presence on the ground here in Townsville, and a strong signal that this project is committed to regional Queensland.
“With the final investment decision announced, I welcome contracts being completed for early suppliers to the project in regional Queensland, and I urge the start to early works to support even more jobs for Queenslanders.”
