Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has instructed the Coordinator-General to set a timetable for the resolution of two outstanding approvals for Adani’s proposed Carmichael mine.
While Adani has faced an approvals process just like any other resources project in Queensland free of political interference, it has become clear the process is taking too long.
“The community is sick of it, I’m sick of it, everyone is sick of the delays,” the Premier said.
“Everyone has had more than enough time to resolve these issues and for some reason that has not occurred.
“That all ends now.”
The Premier has instructed the Coordinator-General to:
- Take a stronger oversight role across the Adani approvals process timeline;
- Report back to her by the end of the week setting out a clear plan for timeframes for both the company and the regulator to adhere to; and
- Seek to ensure neither party is responsible for unnecessary delays in the approvals process.
Once the Coordinator-General has established a timeframe it will be released to the public.
The Premier said the Coordinator-General’s role is not to interfere in the independence of the approvals process but to ensure all parties know where they stand and adhere to their responsibilities.
The Coordinator-General does have a range of strong powers including prescribed project powers. These allow the Coordinator-General to step in on any approval processes to ensure timely decision making and certainty.
“I’ve asked the Coordinator-General to convene a meeting between Adani and the independent regulator tomorrow and to report back to me by Friday with a timeframe which I will release to the public,” the Premier said.
“What this does is to hold Adani and the independent regulator to account and to give everyone clarity around who needs to do what and by when.
“Since I became Premier, we have processed $20 billion worth of mining projects providing 7,500 jobs.
“We want job-creating projects in Queensland but they need to stack up.”
Since its election the Palaszczuk government has supported the creation of 199,000 jobs.
“I said we are about jobs, jobs, jobs and the numbers don’t lie,” she said.
“But we can never rest.
“Saturday’s election result only added to the message we were already hearing from our local members and community leaders that jobs are the number one priority for Queenslanders.”
