Last night in Queensland Parliament, the Palaszczuk Government with the support of the Katter’s Australia Party and independent MPs, passed legislation likely to destroy hundreds of jobs at the Acland Coal mine at Oakey on Queensland’s Darling Downs.
Deputy Opposition Leader, Deb Frecklington, said she had already received calls from Acland workers and their families devastated by last night’s events and the callous disregard Annastacia Palaszczuk had shown for their future.
“In one fell swoop, Labor has plunged the future of local families into uncertainty,” Ms Frecklington said.
“Annastacia Palaszczuk needs to explain to the employees of the Acland mine why their livelihoods weren’t worth saving from her job-destroying legislation.
“We do not at all begrudge communities in Central and North Queensland for the fact that Labor has finally seen fit to excuse the Adani mine from unnecessary extra water approvals, but why didn’t she do the same for the Acland mine?
“Without a timely approval for the Acland expansion, the project will literally run out of coal, leaving nothing to mine and further job losses.
“Annastacia Palaszczuk promised Queenslanders she would create jobs and yet has sacrificed jobs to save her own.”
“Let me be clear, the LNP fully supported the make-good provisions in this legislation to protect farmers’ groundwater, but we fought hard against the unfair provisions that would force mining projects that had already received environmental approval from both state and Federal Governments into another lengthy approval and objection process.”
Member for Condamine, Pat Weir, said he was very worried about the future for the hundreds of employees at New Hope’s Acland Mine.
“Many of the workers coldly cut adrift by Annastacia Palaszczuk live in my electorate in the town of Oakey and surrounds, and their futures are now in absolute limbo,” Mr Weir said.
“The prosperity of the Oakey community depends on the mine being able to expand and, already, workers, small businesses and local contractors are fearful of how the local economy will cope after being ignored by this reckless Labor Government.”
Member for Toowoomba North, Trevor Watts, said Labor’s job-destroying legislation would affect people far beyond the local area.
“The residents who work directly at the mine and the families who spend their money at all the retail stores and other shops in my community have had their livelihoods placed in jeopardy by this sneaky Labor government,’ Mr Watts said.
“It will put families under a lot of stress and pressure knowing they’ll be going into Christmas with no idea what the future holds for them.
“It’s a very disappointing result for an Australian-owned, 100 per cent local employment mine with a fantastic record of rehabilitation.”
Member for Toowoomba South, David Janetzki said he was shocked Labor had chosen to ignore warnings about the impact of its legislation on local communities.
“Local families in Toowoomba South are desperately disappointed in this decision. They will need to move away - uprooting their families from everything they know,” Mr Janetzki said.
“Small businesses that rely on this project as their lifeblood are in shock today at this decision. This Labor Government just doesn’t understand and doesn’t care about regional Queensland.”
