Coal, GeorgeChristensenBlog, Jobs admin Coal, GeorgeChristensenBlog, Jobs admin

Adani wants Mackay workers in jobs mix

I've come away from a meeting with Adani representatives in Brisbane this morning heartened by assurances that up to 1000 jobs will come on line by mid-year and Mackay workers will be actively encouraged to apply.There are 1000 jobs in the mix as Adani moves into pre-construction work later this year and these jobs will be advertised directly in Mackay as well as regionally, and Mackay workers will be encouraged to apply for these jobs.I met with a key spokesperson for Adani in Brisbane this morning to lobby them for a greater commitment to assist Mackay regional residents being to apply for positions that may become available with their mine and associated works.These jobs will be in fields such as earthworks, fencing, building dams; all that is required for setting up the basic infrastructure for the mine site.There will also be construction jobs associated with the rail line from the Galilee Basin mine to the port of Abbot Point.These construction jobs will go on for two and a half years, so the employment prospects for workers are imminent and significant.

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Labor needs to stand with North Queensland workers

JOBS and a vital boost to this region's economy are still under threat from frivolous extreme green legal challenges and the only way to end them once and for all is through legislation in the federal parliament.The Adani Carmichael Coal Project is by no means certain while the extreme green legal challenges remain in the courts despite yesterday's mining lease approval.I'm calling on my Labor opponent to join me in the fight for local jobs by backing legislative action to end those green legal challenges.

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There is no doubt; India wants our coal

INDIA’S Minister of State for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal thanked me for supporting Adani’s Carmichael Mine, Rail and Port Project during a chance meeting in the halls of parliament this morning.I had a brief chat with Minister Piyush Goyal and he stated in no uncertain terms that India was very keen to see the Carmichael Coal Project up and running.I assured him of my absolute commitment to seeing that happen too, and he thanked me for my support on this front.The Carmichael Coal Project promises jobs for Central and North Queensland, as well as prosperity for Indians being lifted out of energy poverty.

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Extreme green rot must stop

THE latest extreme green court action mounted against the Alpha Coal Project demonstrates how important it is that the Federal Government stick with legislation to end the sabotage of coal projects.The people who pay the ultimate price for these vigilante court actions are the workers of Central and North Queensland in dire need of jobs, and the businesses desperate for a boost to the region’s economy.The extreme green activists will continue to mount challenge after challenge against coal projects like the Alpha Coal Project and the Carmichael Mine Project.

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Legal counter-offensive needed to save jobs

THE predictable extreme green tactic of mounting legal challenges to derail coal projects and stop the flow of jobs needs to be eliminated with a legal counter-offensive.I question the authority of those mounting court actions which currently hold seven Queensland projects to ransom, costing an estimated $1million a day in lost production.Who gives these self-styled guardians of the environment the authority to mount these court challenges which have been going on for more than two years?

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Bright future for coal

Queensland’s coal industry has a bright future, built on the back of continuing strong demand from Japan, China and India. And with this bright future comes continued prosperity and jobs for the people of the Mackay region.However, Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche says green activists continue their unrelenting bid to shut down Queensland’s fossil fuel sector, also without a care for the jobs and prosperity this sector brings to resources hubs such as Mackay.He told me this week: “My prediction of a bright future might seem like an overly buoyant appraisal in the current climate, however our coal companies are preparing for the next inevitable upturn.

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Green activists killing jobs on your taxes

Anti-coal activists are attacking jobs and industry and they are doing it at taxpayer expense. A Federal Government inquiry will investigate how green groups are able to take advantage of a tax privilege to prosecute their ideological agendas.If you care about jobs in Mackay and Bowen and further afield, if you care about projects that will inject huge amounts of money and confidence back into our region, then you should also be rightfully angry about the actions of these extreme greens. They pretend they’re saving the reef, but it’s not about the reef at all. It’s about destroying the coal industry, and your jobs and our economy along with it.

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Extreme greens are robbers & job destroyers

ANOTHER massive boost for the region, GVK Hancock’s Alpha Coal Project, is under threat in Brisbane because of the actions of the extreme green anti-coal protesters.The inconvenient truth for them is that the global demand for thermal coal will continue for decades to come.And if we don’t mine it some other country will.They are not going to kill the demand for coal; they’re just going to rob Australia of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars.

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Jobs a step closer but wait for green bleating

It's good to hear that the State Labor Government has today issued their referral for environmental assessment of the Abbot Point coal port expansion to the Federal Government.However we can now expect another avalanche of extreme green group opposition.The reality is we will now go through yet another public consultation period before the Abbott Government can begin the final assessment of the project.During this time every extreme Green group under the sun will come out of the woodwork to bag Abbot Point because this is the last throw of the dice for them in stopping the expansion from proceeding.

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