Editorial: Coal hard facts on Queensland’s resource riches

Those who jumped on the anti-Adani bandwagon have been heard for too long. We should join together and welcome the next chapter in the economic development of Queensland.

THE Adani Carmichael coal mine development in the Galilee Basin has been subjected to some of the wildest assertions about a new resource project, from both proponents and opponents, that have been heard in decades. Now the claims and counterclaims have all but exhausted themselves, we can take a more fact-based and realistic measure of the proposal.

The Indian conglomerate has settled on a stripped-down development in terms of cost, the amount of extracted ore, jobs and broader benefits to the community. This was the most likely outcome given the difficulty Adani has faced getting access to finance and the mixed views about the Carmichael mine in different parts of Queensland.

The mine, which could begin development as soon as next month, has had to jump through a series of regulatory hoops, including stringent state and Commonwealth environmental tests. There remain a few regulatory boxes to tick but the proposal is now close to the final green light. It is not the only coal mine in Queensland, despite the propaganda put about by activists. Indeed, a much bigger mine than Adani’s scaled-back first phase is proposed just next to the Carmichael project and this development – the $7 billion MacMines Austasia’s China Stone – has so far escaped the kind of demonising and often vicious attacks the Adani mine has been subjected to.

If the coal industry in Queensland vanished, tens of thousands of jobs would go.

Those who jump on the anti-Adani bandwagon should consider what would happen if they were successful and their opposition to coal more generally came to fruition. If the coal industry in Queensland vanished overnight we know tens of thousands of jobs would go. Communities would be decimated with a ripple effect of business closures and unemployment rolling through town after town. Even those who protest in comfort from their inner-city homes would suffer the short-term consequences of shutting down coal as power outages became more prevalent and Queensland’s economic strength was sapped.

As Adani makes new investments in the coal industry and promotes new jobs throughout central and north Queensland, we should make sure this industry – so vital to Queensland’s past, present and future – is not unfairly vilified and future growth is not handicapped by shortsighted politicking. There will be greater debate about using renewable energy sources in the coming months and years but base load power can only be guaranteed if we have dispatchable power.

This requires electricity sources which can be used when the demand arises as well as being dispatched when the market indicates grid operators can transmit energy on a profitable basis. This kind of power in reality can be sourced only from coal, gas and large hydro-electric generation.

At the moment, renewables do not meet these requirements and it could be many years before we get to this point, despite the hyperbole these projects too often attract.

These are the facts which those who oppose major projects such as Adani must face. As a community we should face the facts and accept reality. This state’s history has been on the shoulders of a long established and strong resources sector. There are challenges in any development of this kind which is why we have some of the toughest environmental tests imaginable.

Mining generally, and coal specifically, provides jobs, economic growth and community well being, all of which are vital to our prosperity and future health and strength as a state. We should keep this in mind as we debate and discuss this long-awaited coal development in the Galilee Basin.

The naysayers have been heard for too long. We should now join together and welcome this next chapter in the economic development of Queensland.

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Cliff Fleming is marking the 50th anniversary of Bundaberg Ginger Beer. Picture: Paul Beutel

RAISE A GLASS TO TRUE-BLUE BREW

HALF a century running a successful, iconic business that has taken a local product to the world is certainly something worth celebrating which is why the people at Bundaberg Brewed Drinks are making a song and dance about their special anniversary in the production of that distinctly Queensland drink, Bundaberg Ginger Beer.

No one would have thought when the Fleming family started brewing their ginger beer in Bundaberg in 1968 they would today have a wide range of flavours exported to 50 countries, including lucrative deals in the US which give them access to almost half a million stores.

However, the hard work, skill and ambition of Cliff Fleming, his wife Lee and his mother and father, Neville and Gladys, have realised this dream. Today the usually modest Cliff, who has shunned the limelight for those 50 years, is fronting a new advertising campaign to celebrate the Bundaberg Ginger Beer story. Cliff, now 75, says in his first big public appearance that his company had always kept one thing unchanged in making their brewed soft drink – “the time we put into making our brews taste better”.

As other non-alcoholic drink producers went down the track of franchises and allowing multinational takeovers, Bundaberg Brewed Drinks stuck to their traditional brewing processes, seeking our new and wider markets. The way they dry their fresh ginger is the same now as it was in 1968, a slow method which extracts a deeper, lasting flavour profile.

This truly great company with its internationally famous drink is one of those unique Queensland products that define our state and our way of life – along with XXXX beer, Bundaberg Rum, Weis Bars and Lucas Papaw Ointment. This weekend, buy a Bundaberg Ginger Beer, raise a glass and toast the Fleming family. They deserve it.