Dig it and they will come: More than 14,000 hopefuls apply for Adani jobs

Almost 14,500 people have lodged interest in working at Adani’s Carmichael coal mine which remains in limbo after the Palaszczuk Government ordered an 11th hour review.

ALMOST 14,500 people have lodged interest in working at Adani’s Carmichael coal mine which remains in limbo after the Palaszczuk Government ordered an 11th hour review.

Figures compiled from expressions of interest logged with the Indian miner over the past 18 months have revealed 5661 of the prospective applicants were unemployed with 4241 of these jobless for more than a month.

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The data comes days after Queensland was confirmed as having the second highest unemployment in the country with the rate hovering above six per cent for 12 months.

Meanwhile, the Palaszczuk Government Cabinet met yesterday for the first time in 2019 with Ministers promising to make tackling the state’s jobless queue a key priority.

Roadworks have started for Adani Carmichael coal mine project.

With the Galilee Basin mine expected to generate 1500 direct jobs and 6750 supporting jobs, competition for the position will be fierce, if the Government approves the mine.

Applicants included plumbers, nurses, welders, electricians, office workers, accountants, cooks, painters, carpenters, engineers and cultural heritage officers.

“When you get 14,500 people wanting to work for you and most of these people come from Queensland, you would hope the Queensland Government would take notice,’’ Adani Australia Mining chief executive Lucas Dow said.

The figures show 8599 applicants supplied their home city or suburb and 7217 of these were in Queensland.

Of these, 1550 were from Townsville, 549 from Mackay, 723 from Rockhampton and 1080 from Brisbane.

More than 3700 applications were logged after Adani announced it was self-funding a scaled-back version of the mine late last year.

Days later the Palaszczuk Government perverted normal processes by ordering a review into the Carmichael mine’s management plan for the threatened black-throated finch.

The review panel is headed by the University of Melbourne’s Brendan Wintle, who is the director of the Threatened Species Recovery Hub.

Four of the five panellists assembled by Professor Wintle hold leadership position at the Hub, which has been criticised for lacking impartiality.

“They are nationally and internationally recognised experts in environmental science and experienced in undertaking reviews of this nature,” Prof Wintle said.

“Several of the panel members have previously been engaged by mining companies to provide expert advice on threatened species management.”