PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Queensland government has unveiled plans for a new policy to unlock the development of the Galilee and Surat basins, as well as the North West minerals province, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying that the state Cabinet had unanimously agreed upon the new policy approach.
Treasurer Curtis Pitt said the framework provided investor certainty and encouraged new development and business opportunities in the basins and the North West minerals province.
“Investors accessing the new resources framework will be required to provide jobs, common-user infrastructure and have a positive impact on the state’s finances,” Pitt said.
“This revised model will apply to future resource development proposals in the three regions and will replace ad hoc arrangements negotiated in the past. It is a transparent policy framework that will apply equally to project proponents looking to invest in these under-developed resource regions.”
Under the new policy, all greenfield projects approved after the completion of comprehensive environmental-impact assessments will be required to pay all royalties due to the state over the term of any agreement, with security of payment and no adverse budget impact to the state.
This clause means that there will be no ‘tax holiday’ for the $16.5-billion Carmichael coal project being developed by Indian major Adani.
The new policy also means that any agreement with a proponent will not involve the direct expenditure of public funds in the project or in directly‑related economic infrastructure for that project, and stipulates the provision by the proponent of third-party access infrastructure or other acceptable economic infrastructure to the state.
Furthermore, projects must have significant regional employment, generation of royalties and economic opportunity benefits, such as the potential to assist in opening up undeveloped resource basins.
“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,” Palaszczuk said.
“This will squeeze every dollar and every job out of these projects.
“This is the right policy that will provide certainty and deliver jobs, royalties and opportunities for years to come. It will unlock these resource areas so that projects can proceed and deliver thousands of new jobs for regional Queenslanders.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Adani said that the company was still engaged in “active discussions” with the state government as part of its assessment process, adding that no decision had yet been taken on the development of the Carmichael project.
The company had been due to take a final investment decision on the coal and rail project on May 29, but had delayed that process after the Queensland government last week failed to agree to the terms of the royalty regime for the mine.
The $16.5-billion Carmichael project will comprise an opencut and underground mine, running for a period of 90 years and producing an average 60-million tonnes a year of thermal coal. However, the project has been controversial from the start, with environmental groups heavily opposed to the development.