Interesting comments from Peter Beattie in today’s Australian....

Interesting comments from Peter Beattie in today’s Australian. If you believe Peter, maybe the LNP is not the saviour for the NSW CSG industry. But then again maybe it is just that Queenslanders are more rational economically than their NSW counterparts.

In the light of Peter’s comments and KRudd’s “cooking with gas” comments, how can minor members of the Labor Party like Justine Elliot and Janelle Saffin expect anyone to believe that they could oppose CSG if in Government? No wonder Justine had to leave cabinet before her conflict was exposed.

“Two industries are going to lead our economic growth for the immediate future: liquefied natural gas exports and mining services. These need to be the cornerstone of our economic strategy and must be supported by all sides of politics.

The LNG industry shows that government can make a difference. The development of this industry is the model for the role of government in the economy. Policies by state and federal Labor governments on the development of Queensland's LNG industry, investment in mining and the Port of Gladstone will produce future royalties for both Queensland and Australia, which will assist in putting them back in surplus.

Here are the facts. The state and federal governments facilitated $60 billion worth of investment into the Queensland LNG industry and, right now, it's the linchpin sustaining the state's economy. Without it, Queensland would be in serious trouble.

Once LNG exports start, they will increase by 60 million tonnes over five years. Each 100,000-tonne cargo will be worth about $20 million. As a result, Australia's trade will increase in value by $12bn each year for the next 30 years, securing Queensland's future surpluses as we take our share of the exports.

The Queensland LNG industry exploded after my government set a policy requiring the state's generators to use 13 per cent gas from 2005. As companies such as Santos will confirm, this provided a market, and the rest is history. The coal-seam methane industry took off and will soon be the backbone of the Queensland economy.

The results of the investment in the mining industry, the Port of Gladstone and approval of the supplying mines is shown in the future export figures and royalties.

Trade volume through the Port of Gladstone will increase from 90 million tonnes this year to 156 million tonnes in 2018. The value of this trade will increase from $10bn this year to $35bn in 2018. Nine thousand people are currently employed in Gladstone building the plants on Curtis Island.

Direct annual royalties and tax benefits from the port's activities alone will increase fourfold to state and federal governments: from $2bn to $8bn. There will be 27 million tonnes shipped a year. It will be Queensland and Australia's biggest single increase in trade and exports, underpinned by 15 to 20-year contracts.

State governments facilitated the approvals to make the LNG industry a reality. The Liberal National Party, which now holds government in Queensland, opposed them. We have to avoid such political nonsense in the future.”