QUEENSLAND Resources Council (QRC) sees a brighter future than ever for resources as the world moves towards a low-carbon economy. In fact, QRC is calling the 200 electric vehicle (EV) convoy of former Greens leader Bob Brown as proof that resources such as coal, bauxite and iron ore are underpinning the switch to electric vehicles.

“As Queensland moves towards a low emission economy demand for resources will grow," QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said.

"Renewable energy and batteries used to store electricity need several mined metals and materials including bauxite, copper and nickel. Each of Bob Brown’s electric vehicles have four times more copper than a conventional car," he said.

“At any given time in Queensland close to 80 percent of the state’s electricity is powered by fossil fuels with the majority sourced from coal. It’s this electricity that is used to charge EVs and people’s smart phones.

“Once again, it’s a case of do as we say, not do as we do for anti-mining activists. But you can’t avoid the facts for long. And the facts are this convoy of cars are not only powered by coal but they are built with coal," Mr Macfarlane said.

“If it wasn’t for coal, this anti-jobs campaign would need to cross the Bass Strait in a wooden boat then walk to the Galilee Basin.

“If these activists truly wanted a coal free future they would have no choice but to end the journey immediately. If they continue, then their anti-jobs, anti-regional growth claims will have a very hollow ring to them.”

Mr Macfarlane called the 200 EV convoy of Bob Brown a case of "Bob the Gilder". He said 200 EVs represented:

• 18 tonnes of copper
• 75 tonnes of aluminium
• 94 tonnes of coking coal to make the steel
• 122 tonnes of steel
• 300 tonnes of bauxite to make the aluminium
• 342 tonnes of thermal coal 

"That’s a small mountain of about 950 tonnes of Queensland resources that is being used to protest against Queensland resources," Mr Macfarlance said.

"If you plug an electric car into the Queensland grid at the stroke of noon today, 17.3 percent of the electrons come from renewable sources like solar and hydro, but 12 percent come from gas and 70.7 percent from coal.

"So 82 kilometres in every 100 km driven are powered by fossil fuels. If the convoy drove only on renewable energy from Hobart to Alpha, they’d get about 455 km along the 2,628 km drive before they went flat.

"Adding an electric car on the grid is the equivalent in some cases to adding three houses. Electric cars often need an entire night to recharge at home and they can increase a house’s power consumption by 50 percent or more."

www.qrc.org.au

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LENGTHY processing times and archaic visa applicatio systems are hampering Australia’s competitive edge with India and China -- two important markets suffering significant delays affecting our desirability as a holiday destination.

The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) has today called for both parties to commit to taking policy action on visa issues which are affecting our reputation as an accessible destination and the ongoing increases in visa costs, which in last week’s budget hit both tourism and working holiday maker visas.

“ATEC is baffled by the recent budget announcement, increasing the cost of the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa, which went up by more than 5.4 percent in last week’s budget, while at the same time funding marketing campaigns to ‘reinvigorate’ this market,” ATEC managing director, Peter Shelley said.

“Working holiday makers are one of our highest yielding visitors who travel extensively in regional Australia both spending and working in these communities.

“This is a price sensitive market and with these visas increasing by around $35, it seems we are encouraging on one hand and discouraging on the other."

Mr Shelley said the situation in India has become dire, with numerous international wholesalers now refusing to actively sell Australia due to the length of time it takes to process a visa to Australia.

“There is a failure to recognise the massive commercial knock-on effects of visa delays and it’s quite common for large groups planning a trip to Australia to collectively change their destination plans if just one traveller’s visa is held up," he said.

“ATEC has been briefed on a recent case where a group of 700 professionals from India cancelled their trip and went to Canada because Australia’s visa issues were too challenging.

“Previously, our Home Affairs department had a policy of liaising with key travel distribution partners to create visa processing efficiencies but this is no longer the case and we are now seeing bottlenecks of up to 40 days in processing.

“In China, the ADS visa has been long-lauded as a system which guaranteed speedy processing in return for compliance with a number of criteria but we now hear what was once a 48 hour ADS processing time has ballooned to more than a week.

“Even more concerning is the tourist visa (sub-class 600) for Chinese visitors is taking upwards of 4 weeks to be processed.

“Once upon a time, Australia was a global leader in visa policy and now we are seeing competing destinations not only out-performing us, but stealing market share -  this is just not good enough for an industry worth more than $44 billion in export revenue."

A recent survey undertaken by ATEC showed the annual cost to business directly attributable to visa challenges can be as high a $250,000 per Australian inbound tourism agency who arranges all travel requirements for international visitors.  This doesn’t account for knock on effects to tourism products like accommodation providers, tour operators, experiences, and the business which supply goods and services to those operators.

“The opportunity cost to Australia thanks to poor visa policy is without doubt in the millions, and there appears to be a genuine government apathy in considering reforms that could deliver short term gains," Mr Shelley said.

“ATEC is committed to working with government to activate real solutions that drive growth, minimise risk and re-establish Australia as a welcoming international destination."

All we request is that Australia’s tourism visa policy and resourcing is competitive – at the moment it’s not and this is damaging Australia’s global reputation.

“We want to see visa processing systems that are intuitive, language-enabled and interfaced with other data sources to enable a fast, seamless and user-friendly visa application experience.”

QUEENSLAND Resources Council (QRC) has welcomed Brisbane-based Senex Energy signing its first domestic gas contract from the company’s Project Atlas in the Surat Basin.

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the agreement was an Australian first and showcased Queensland’s leading regulatory framework designed to increase supply in the domestic market. 

“Senex Energy developed gas at Project Atlas after the Palaszczuk Government released the land specifically for the domestic market," Mr Macfarlane said. "QRC has always been a strong supporter of this domestic gas policy and it’s another example of how Queensland continues to do all the heavy lifting to provide extra gas for the eastern Australian market.

Senex has agreed to supply building products group CSR with 3.25 petajoules (PJ) of natural gas which has the potential to fuel more than 200 Queensland manufacturing jobs. 

Mr Macfarlane said people wanted industry and government to work together with communities and wider society to promote effective, constructive, and mutually beneficial relationships.

"Queensland’s resources industry has a proven track record of attracting new investment and creating new jobs because of the clear and stable regulatory environment in which it operates," Mr Macfarlane said. "It is essential that we have stable and reliable regulation for our resources sector to continue to attract the investment that builds our State and delivers for every Queenslander.”

The Queensland resources sector now provides one in every five dollars in the Queensland economy, sustains one in eight Queensland jobs, and supports more than 14,200 businesses across the State all from 0.1 percent of Queensland’s land mass.

www.qrc.org.au

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TRADERS who flout restricted retail trading hours during the Easter period risk hefty fines, the executive director of the Australian Retailers’ Association, Russell Zimmerman, said today.

Citing the example of a shopping centre seeking to compel its tenants to open on Easter Sunday, Mr Zimmerman urged landlords and retailers to check state regulations to determine whether they were permitted to trade.

“The ARA is concerned that retail businesses that open during prohibited times over Easter – whether inadvertently or deliberately – will find themselves slapped with hefty fines for their trouble,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“As legislation and regulation governing Easter trading varies from state to state, the ARA strongly urges both retail businesses and their landlords to check the law as it applies where they are based,” Mr Zimmerman added.

Mr Zimmerman said that while some exceptions to prohibited trading times during Easter were allowed, these were extremely limited, and that it was best for business owners to double-check before they risked a fine.

“We know from retailers seeking clarification, for example, of a shopping centre in Sydney that wanted to tell its customers it’d be open on Easter Sunday, and sought to compel its tenants to trade,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“Easter Sunday trading is illegal under NSW law, unless an exemption is granted. Traders who complied with this directive from centre management would be liable for a fine of $11,000 per business,” he said.

Mr Zimmerman said the ARA had taken steps to inform the shopping centre involved.

“The ARA understands that Easter is a popular holiday, and that people like to go shopping," he said. "Even so, the law is the law, and where opening at certain times is illegal, we wish to ensure our members’ interests are protected.

“Most states publish details of Easter trading hours on their websites. The five minutes it takes to check could quite literally save many retail businesses thousands of dollars,” Mr Zimmerman said.

About the Australian Retailers Association

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is Australia’s largest retail association, representing the country’s $320 billion-dollar sector, which employs more than 1.3 million people. As Australia’s leading retail peak industry body, the ARA is a strong pro-active advocate for Australian retail and works to ensure retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 7,800 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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