Annastacia Palaszczuk announces more gas exploration, export hub investment for Queensland regions

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has used her State of the State address today to announce more gas exploration for Queensland’s regions and a $20 million investment in two regional export hubs.

ANNASTACIA Palaszczuk has announced more land will be opened up for gas exploration across regional Queensland as she spruiked her bush credentials in her annual State of the State address.

The Premier pledged one third of the gas would be preserved for the domestic market.

“Today I can announce that my government is going out for tender for another 30,000 square kilometres of land for gas exploration mostly across the Surat, Bowen and Galilee basins – an area almost size of Belgium – with 30 per cent of gas preserved for the Australian market protecting and creating local jobs,” Ms Palaszczuk told the CEDA lunch.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk addresses the Committee for Economic Development of Australia. Picture: Glenn Hunt

“Not only does unlocking this gas supply improve our competitive advantage in manufacturing and protect and create secure full-time jobs – it also supports investment in infrastructure with the potential to deliver a future renewable hydrogen industry.”

Ms Palaszczuk also announced the government would invest up to $20 million to get two regional export hubs off the ground, one in Cairns and one in Toowoomba.

“Our regions are a critical backbone in our export chain,” she said.

“Up to $10 million will be dedicated to Air Freight Handling Services at Cairns Airport to develop an export distribution centre.

“This centre will be designed to handle fresh produce, products and packaged goods for export and the construction involves an expansion to 3,200 export tonnes and 180 import tonnes each year with the capacity for even greater future expansion beyond the planned opening in June 2021.

“This move increases Queensland’s opportunity to take our far north produce – including seafood and avocadoes, mangoes and melons and citrus fruits and blue berries – to the world.”

Ms Palaszczuk said up to $10 million will go towards helping Wagner’s develop an export distribution centre at the Toowoomba Wellcamp airport.

“This will allow almost 7,000 additional export tonnes of capacity a year with further capacity for future expansion after operations commence in January 2021.”

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane welcomed the opening of new gas exploration land as “essential to creating jobs, attracting investment, boosting exports and ultimately generating additional revenue for the Queensland Government in the form of royalties”.

“QRC has consistently pushed for extra land to be released for exploration and development.

“We have been very supportive of the release of areas for exploration and development to service the domestic gas market, supporting industry, jobs and households here in Queensland,” he said.

The State Government is monitoring 14 towns across Queensland which are on the verge of running out of water. That includes Stanthorpe, where the town’s main water supply Storm King Dam (pictured) is critically low. Picture: Dan Peled

Helping regional Queensland with drought

Ms Palaszczuk says she is open to exploring a scaled back version of the Bradfield scheme to help regional Queensland cope with the drought.

It comes as the state continues to monitor 14 towns across the state on the verge of running out of water.

The scheme – first mooted in the 1930s – was designed as an irrigation scheme to drought proof western Queensland but it was abandoned before it could get off the ground.

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“I don’t think the scale of that would work today but perhaps what we do need to do is work with the Bureau of Meteorology, work with the Federal Government, work with people that can look at these inflows and water way accesses to make sure there is not going to be any long term impact on the environment,” Ms Palaszczuk said during a question and answer session at the Ceda State of the State lunch in Brisbane.

“Perhaps we need to work to work with the Federal Government to see if we can do any planning together, for example, when it comes to a smaller version of the Bradfield scheme.

“I am open to that conversation. I have had people talk to me about it in the regions and I am more than happy to have a conversation with the Prime Minister.”