Ann: New Acland Stage 3 Update, page-80

Hi all,

RE: Stage 3 of New Acland Coal Mine
Editorial from Today's (12/11/2022) Courier Mail stemming from a 2-page article.


NEW HOPE FOR STATE PROSPERITY
UP TO 600 workers are about to start swarming across a mine site outside
Toowoomba, and that is warmly welcome news for this state. Stage Three
of the Acland Coal Mine at Oakey jumped its last hurdle in October,
receiving official approval for its water licence which gives mine owner,
New Hope Group, the green light to start hiring workers, many of whom
will be on six figure salaries.
The construction phase alone will mean 600 jobs and the new mine, with a
life of up to 15 years, will provide full time employment for 400 people.
This good news has been more than a decade in the making as New Hope
not only fulfilled the strict and worthy development protocols that every
new mine in Australia must meet, but was forced into lengthy courtroom
battles against opponents determined to thwart the project.
But the state government’s granting of the water licence in October means
the matter is largely settled, and a century-old coal mining precinct will
now begin a new chapter.
New Hope is already starting to hire the 600-strong workforce it will need
for the construction phase of a project which will pour, conservatively,
$1bn into the Darling Downs community.
As Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk herself has said, we need projects like
Acland because they are employment engines which seed wealth creation
right through the state.
Mines like this provide the money to build and staff our schools and our
hospitals.
What we don’t need is a message, sent out to the domestic and
international mining community, that creating a new mine in the
Sunshine State will mean fighting a long, expensive and energy sapping
battle and that even if the project is legitimate there is no guarantee of
victory.
This state needs its mines, and the world still needs the minerals they
produce.
The strict protocols that mines are now required to meet, especially
regarding environmental protection and site rehabilitation, have made
mining approvals far more arduous to obtain.
That is how it should be.
Opponents of a project should have the opportunity to test its validity but
not the scope to conduct endless “lawfare” through the court system to
stymie and frustrate legitimate projects.
When a company such as New Hope acts in an ethical manner, meets
every requirement and successfully argues its case against every legal
challenge, it should be applauded for holding the line, and providing an
opportunity for thousands of Queenslanders to prosper.