Adani says Carmichael megamine viable without royalties holiday
UPDATE: It may be causing strife in Parliament but former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie doesn’t see any issue with the Adani coal mine royalty deal.
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FORMER Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has backed the proposed Adani Coal Mine amid internal Labor Party strife about the future of the multi billion dollar project.
Mr Beattie insisted the state would get its royalty money despite a coal royalty holiday understood to involve $320 million which is at the heart of concerns by senior Left Government ministers about the future of the proposed North Queensland mine.
Mr Beattie said the agreement that he understood was in place would allow Adani to pay royalties at a lower rate for a few years as the mine became established, then allow the Government to recoup the discount in later years as the mine stepped up into full production.
“We did those sort of deals when I was in office,’’ Mr Beattie said.
“If there is some movement on when they (Adani) pay it then I don’t see that as a big deal.’’
Mr Beattie, who refused to comment on the internal party strife over the Adani proposal, said the $900 million concessional loan to Adani from the Federal Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility to fund the rail project connected to the coal mine was also perfectly acceptable.
“As long as that line can be used by other miners in the Galilee Basin then I don’t see it as a problem,’ he said.
Mr Beattie said Queensland governments from Sir Joh Bjelke Petersen back to William Forgan Smith had been underwriting infrastructure which stimulated growth in this state.
“From my point of view it is a no brainer,’’ he said of the Adani project.
His comments came as the Premier faced further grilling in Parliament’s Question Time today.
Adani weighs in on royalties row
ADANI has confirmed that its Carmichael megamine is viable, even without $320 million in royalties relief from the State Government.
But the company says that its $2 billion rail project is well short of being commercially viable due to demands from the federal and state governments that it be open-access, common-user infrastructure.
“This means we are being required to solely bear the significant upfront costs of expanding the line capacity,” an Adani spokesman said.
“The mine is viable — no question.’’
He said the rail line would require both the royalties relief as well as the proposed $900 million concessional loan from the Federal Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.
The company has not said how long it is prepared to wait for the Queensland Labor Government to make a decision on the royalties issue, which forced a split in Cabinet when the Left faction rejected generous concessions as a broken election promise.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday told Parliament the deal would still go through Cabinet.
Adani supporters yesterday pointed to a long history of the state using taxpayer funds to prop up industry.
Among the more successful was a $10 million deal to lure Virgin to Brisbane with payroll tax concessions. That delivered about 750 jobs.
The federal and state governments also poured $250 million into the disastrous Australian Magnesium.
To lure Rio Tinto’s Comalco alumina refinery to Gladstone, the Queensland Government provided about $150 million in common-user infrastructure, while the Federal Government provided a $137 million repayable loan.
Trad digs in over mine
DEPUTY Premier Jackie Trad has been accused of leading an anti-Adani civil war within the State Government to save her inner-city seat.
Ms Trad, the most senior Left minister, came under fire inside and outside State Parliament yesterday over her stance against a special royalties deal for the Carmichael megamine. The Opposition insisted she was only interested in protecting her South Brisbane seat from the Greens.
Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls and the LNP used Parliament yesterday to further highlight the public split in the Cabinet, which north Queensland mayors and business groups say puts the area’s future prosperity at risk.
“The toxic brew of self-interest and division concocted by the Deputy Premier and her kitchen Cabinet of the loony Left designed to kill off the $16.5 billion Adani Carmichael mine puts green inner-city preferences and phony ideology before thousands of Queensland jobs and billions of dollars in investment,” Mr Nicholls told the House.
He said Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had failed a test of leadership.
Ms Palaszczuk and her Treasurer Curtis Pitt are now understood to be negotiating on a more politically palatable alternative to their initial plan to defer payment of up to $320 million in royalties to help entice Adani to start building.
Adani put off its investment decision, due next Monday, over the split.
The new deal is now expected to include a royalties policy for three new mining areas, including the Surat Basin and the North West Mineral Province, as well as the Galilee Basin.
However, tensions remained high yesterday, with a pre-Parliamentary strategy meeting turning fiery.
Shadow treasurer Scott Emerson declared: “Civil war has broken out in the ranks of the Labor Party. This was an act of sabotage from the Left.”
Ms Palaszczuk insisted the Government was “firmly focused” on resource jobs.
But Ms Trad and fellow Left faction ministers Mark Bailey and Shannon Fentiman failed to give their personal support to the project.
“I am a member of the Palaszczuk Labor Government that supports jobs in the resources industry,” the Deputy Premier said.
And Ms Fentiman said she hoped the project went ahead, but that it “should stand up on its own”, while Mr Bailey would only say he was “absolutely committed” to jobs, keeping election commitments and all Cabinet decisions.
Ms Trad and the Left faction have argued a royalties holiday contravenes a pre-election promise not to provide taxpayer subsidies.
North Queensland’s powerful lobby of regional mayors and business groups say the “political infighting” jeopardises regional jobs.
There is even a bumper sticker circulating in the north that reads: “Don’t take my coal job and I won’t take your soy latte.”
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said “southern meddling” by green activists and political factions threatened billions of dollars in royalties and mining taxes.
“This deal is about the lives of everyday Australians, mums and dads in suburbs in Townsville, Bowen, Mackay and Rockhampton, who want the ability to work and earn a living,’’ she said.
Additional reporting Anthony Templeton & Peter Michael
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