THE Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has welcomed a $1,000,000 donation by South32 to the North Queensland flood recovery.

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said every dollar donated would help alleviate some of the pain Queenslanders are going through with this destructive flood.

“Yet again we see the resources sector digging deep when regional Queensland is in need and I sincerely thank South32 for this considerable donation which will go towards helping people who have lost homes, cars and belongings,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“South32 has strong ties to the region with nearly half of its workforce at the company’s Cannington Mine calling Townsville home. I strongly encourage everyone if they can to dig deep and donate what they can.

“This donation comes after Glencore donated $1,000,000 following Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s $200,000 donation, MMG Dugald River has since contributed $250,000 while Adani Australia has donated $100,000 lifting the total contribution from the resources sector to $2,350,000.”

The State Government has listed The Australian Red Cross Society, UnitingCare, Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland as the non-government partners and said people can also donate to GIVIT.

South32 will donate the funds to the St Vincent de Paul Society and will also match any financial contributions made through the company’s employee matched giving program to support the relief efforts.

www.qrc.org.au

To help with the appeal click here www.qld.gov.au/emergency/emergencies-services/help-disaster

QUEENSLAND coal exports in December capped off a resurgent year for the Queensland resources sector, going up in value by more than 15 percent in 2018.

Queensland Resources Council (QRC) chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the stellar figures based on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reinforced the importance of our state’s commodity exports to all Queenslanders.

“2018 was a year of record royalty tax returns and record exports buoyed by the resources sector,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“Queensland’s exports are worth $81.7 billion, up more than 16 percent over the last year.

“The resources sector accounts for 80 percent of our state’s exports, through our highly sought after coal, gas and minerals.

“Our coal exports are the most valuable, worth $35.7 billion.  That coal is exported to build cities and infrastructure around the world, and to provide high-efficiency, low-emissions energy," Mr Macfarlane said.

“In return our exports bring in returns for all Queenslanders to build schools, roads and hospitals and pay for teachers, nurses and police.

“This year, the resources sector will pay a record $5.2 billion in royalty taxes to boost the Queensland budget.

"Overall, coal exports went up 15.7 percent in 2018, while minerals went up 14.3 percent in value," he said.

“Our resources sector has created these returns while using just 0.1 per cent of the state’s land, and while working cooperatively with other industries such as agriculture and tourism.

“A strong resources sector delivers benefits for all Queenslanders, not only the 316,000 people who work in the sector or in associated jobs.

“These values reinforce the need for an investment pipeline for the future, to keep delivering returns through new projects.

“Queensland must have stable, consistent and transparent regulation to ensure we attract new investments to our resources sector and create new jobs.”

www.qrc.org.au

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THE House of Representatives Health, Aged Care and Sport Committee has commenced an Inquiry into the 2017-18 Annual Reports of the Department of Health and Australian Hearing, with particular emphasis on hearing services.

The committee chair, Trent Zimmerman MP, said, "The committee is undertaking this inquiry to follow up with the Department of Health and Australian Hearing about developments in the area of hearing health.

"In particular, the committee will examine government action in relation to the 22 recommendations in its 2017 report Still Waiting to be Heard… Report on the Inquiry into the Hearing Health and Wellbeing of Australia.’  

Further information about the Committee’s inquiry is available on the Committee’s website.

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WAGE THEFT aboard a BlueScope chartered foreign-flagged ship in Port Kembla has been exposed after intervention from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

Inspections by ITF inspectors in Western Port and Port Kembla of the Panamanian registered vessel KEN EI, in January, led to $38,384 in coastal wages being paid immediately in cash to the 20 Filipino seafarers crewing the ship.

“Upon arriving in Western Port, the crew on the KEN EI immediately asked our inspector about claims for payment for two coastal voyages and requested that the ITF contact the shipowner as they had no correspondence or indication that they would be paid by either the shipowner or charterers BlueScope and Rio Tinto,” said ITF national coordinator Dean Summers.

“This is the cold, hard reality of the decision by BHP and BlueScope to end 100 years of Australian shipping, dumping Australian crews and replacing them with Flag of Convenience vessels,” said Mr Summers.

Seafarers working Flag of Convenience (FoC) ships are subjected to exploitation, poor working conditions and wages and are often at the mercy of a system that allows for minimum regulation, according to the ITF.

“Wage theft is one of the biggest problems in the global shipping industry. In December last year alone, ITF inspectors conducted 761 inspections and recovered almost $2 million in wages stolen from the world’s seafarers,” said Mr Summers.

“The decision by BHP and BlueScope – facilitated by the Morrison Government – has again opened the door to more exploitation on our coast.

“In this case, the shipowner only cooperated after we alerted them to their obligations under Australian law. We even had to correct their calculations to ensure the crew were paid correctly.

“One inspection led to almost $40,000 being paid to the crew on the KEN EI which fuels our concerns about the health, safety and welfare of the crews working on foreign flagged vessels chartered by BHP and BlueScope across the country.

“This is compounded by the fact that BHP have blocked ITF Inspectors access to conduct inspections onboard ships at their ports, and manufactured excuses to keep working and living conditions on these ships sheltered from scrutiny,” said Mr Summers.

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