Region needs a ‘year of opportunity’ in 2016

27 NOVEMBER 2015: A dedicated agency tasked with job creation and industry development could make 2016 a year of opportunity for the greater Mackay region.

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Solution for stalled jobs

12 NOVEMBER 2015: Thousands of jobs in North Queensland could flow sooner if Federal Labor was willing to back the workers of the resource industry. In parliament last night, I proposed a solution to the stalled Carmichael Coal Project, which would see construction begin sooner and thousands of jobs come on line.

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Extreme greens urged to get out of the way

I am heading to Ahmedabad on a mission for jobs.I will be meeting with the Chairman of the Adani Group, Mr Gautam Adani, to deliver thousands of postcards of support from a community saying, ‘Yes, Mackay does support the Carmichael mine, Yes, we can supply a workforce, and Yes, we can be a service hub for the Carmichael Coal Project'.The extreme green movement, who have conducted a relentless campaign against the job-creating Carmichael Coal Project, need to understand that Adani needs coal, and will simply source it from somewhere else if they can’t go ahead with their mine in Australia.

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Extreme green bother brigade must be stopped

THE extreme green activists have put out the call for donations to fund another legal challenge of the Carmichael Coal Project before they even know what they can oppose.The action is another clear indication that the extreme greens are hell-bent on robbing the region of much-needed jobs and investment dollars.GetUp! has put the call out for donations to fund another legal challenge already, and by these actions they are proving the point yet again that this has nothing to do with conservation and everything to do with stopping coal projects.

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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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New Minister ready to tackle extreme greens

THE Liberal National Government’s new Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia has wasted no time in addressing the issue of extreme green activism which is robbing the region of jobs and investment.Minister Josh Frydenberg has already noted the importance of Adani’s Carmichael Mine Project, and the threat to our economy posed by the campaigns of the extreme greens.He understands what’s at stake here, as their destructive extreme green campaigns will not only cost the people of this region jobs and opportunities; they are also likely to result in foreign investors going elsewhere for their coal and iron ore.

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WWF dredges up more lies

WORLD Wildlife Fund (WWF) were called out during a hearing for the Register of Environmental Organisations in Canberra for using an image of dredging in Boston Harbor to create false impressions about the Abbot Point port expansion in North Queensland.I challenged WWF about an image used by the Fight For The Reef campaign (which is run by WWF in conjunction with the Australian Marine Conservation Society) in a social media promotion soliciting donations to their cause.The original photo could be found here on istockphoto*, run by Getty Images, where it is described as: “A dredge is making a part of Boston Harbor deeper so that it can handle different ships and boats. A big scoop pulling water a (sic) debris from the bottom clearing a way for progress.”

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MP’s call to stop court action against jobs heeded by AG & PM

MY call for a legal counter-offensive to stop extreme green groups from taking job-creating projects to court has been heeded with both the Attorney General and the Prime Minister agreeing that action needed to be taken.I spoke to the Attorney General George Brandis shortly after the Carmichael mine approval was overturned in the courts at the instigation of an extreme green group.I told him that it was unacceptable that groups that had nothing to do with this project were able to hold up and try to kill off jobs by waging warfare through the legal system.In an interview on Sunday the Attorney General said he wanted to stop such ‘vigilante litigation’.

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Nats call for ban on green court action

UNDER a stance taken by the National Party at a meeting in Rockhampton yesterday, the Mackay Conservation Group would not be allowed to challenge job-creating projects such as the Carmichael Mine in the courts.Why should a group which is not directly impacted by the establishment of a mine have so much to say about the value of a projectThese self-styled guardians should have no authority before the courts.

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State Labor funding green activists to destroy jobs

THE State Labor Government needs to explain why they have given Mackay Conservation Group $5 for every job they kill off for workers desperate for employment.There are some serious questions which need to be answered by the Palaszczuk Government regarding their $50,000 donation to Mackay Conservation Group in the wake of the latest delay to Adani’s Carmichael Coal Project.The Premier of this state needs to explain why she wants to fund a group who are hell-bent on destroying the biggest job-creating project on the table.

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Extreme greens put skink and snake ahead of workers desperate for jobs

THE Mackay Conservation Group are feeling victorious about their misguided campaign to put the welfare of the Yakka Skink and Ornamental Snake ahead of thousands of Mackay and Bowen workers desperate for jobs, but the court case victory they are crowing about today is a hollow one.I have spoken to Minister Greg Hunt’s office this morning and what has happened here is largely an administrative issue which should be resolved within six to eight weeks.

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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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Bob Brown running scared on green tax deductibility

FORMER Greens leader Bob Brown should demonstrate he has the courage to stand by his convictions in relation to green groups deserving tax deductibility status, rather than hiding from a parliamentary inquiry.Mr Brown stated today that he was “reconsidering appearing before the parliamentary inquiry into tax-deductibility” which will be held in Hobart on Tuesday.It seems that Bob Brown is running scared, which makes me think ‘what has the green movement got to hide?’

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Talking about tax breaks for extreme greens

THIS Question and Answer session with my parliamentary colleague Alex Hawke provides some information regarding the Inquiry into the Register of Environmental Organisations which I am involved with. What this is really about is questioning the ability of millionaires and others having the ability to get a generous tax break when they donate to environmental groups who want to see the demise of the industry this region depends on.

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Agriculturalists fall victim to green activist groups

THOSE in the cane industry have also fallen victim to attacks by green activists on numerous occasions in recent years. Another recent attack from the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) again pointed the finger at “polluted run-off from agriculture”. However those most closely associated with the industry can point to significant change in practices which not only serve to protect the natural environment but also produce better outcomes for growers.

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