New Acland mine expansion approval would secure COVID-19 recovery jobs

THE Queensland Resources Council has repeated its call for the State Government to approve the Stage 3 expansion of New Hope’s New Acland mine on the Darling Downs "and deliver much needed COVID-19 recovery jobs for Queensland".

QRC said it shared the frustration of the Toowoomba and Darling Downs communities and recognised the anger expressed by the CFMMEU and its members with these delays.

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said due to the lack of approvals, New Hope had been forced into making redundancies while waiting to extend the mine at Oakey on the Darling Downs.

“This is a shovel-ready project that has been dragged through the court system in Queensland for more than a decade,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“Now the activists have taken the project to the High Court, which could delay the start by years more.

"Queensland needs jobs now and I can tell you these workers and their families and this community needs these jobs," he said.

“The State Government is not powerless here. It could step in at any time to approve the mining lease and associated water licence.

“With Queensland’s unemployment rate forecast to blow out to 9%, there couldn’t be a worse time to stop new jobs in Queensland, yet activists are being given the green light to delay and stop any Queensland jobs being created at their political whim."

www.qrc.org.au

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