THE announcement of Adani’s final investment decision (FID) is great news for regional Queensland and a blow to the green activist campaign aimed at derailing this project at every turn according to the Queensland Resources Council.

Queensland Resources Council Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said the FID illustrated Adani’s commitment and investment to Queensland.

“After more than a decade, and despite a relentless and well-funded anti-coal campaign, the Carmichael coal mine and rail project has reached its FID,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“This is great news for regional Queensland and will add to the prosperity our resources sector already contributes to the state, in addition to providing a reliable, high-energy, low-emission fuel to deliver electricity to some of the 300 million Indians without power.”

Electricity is a luxury to those Indians, which is taken for granted by the foreign-funded activists whose propaganda campaigns are based on fabrications, not science and due diligence, Mr Macfarlane said.

“The green activist strategy is clear, because it was leaked to the media in 2012. Stopping Australia’s Coal Export Boom, authored by the who’s who of green activist groups, details forensically how activists will try to end coal and gas production in Australia.”

The playbook states: Our strategy is to ‘disrupt and delay’ key projects and infrastructure while gradually eroding public and political support for the industry and continually building the power of the movement to win more. We are now seeing this strategy play out chapter by chapter, Mr Macfarlane said.

“Of most concern is that a portion of the anti-fossil fuel brigade is funded by overseas backers, which is why the Queensland Resources Council has backed a federal government report calling for a ban on foreign-funded donations to activist groups,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“Whether they like it or not, Australian taxpayers are being taken for a ride by a sophisticated local and foreign network of green activist groups and their rich-list local and foreign funders.

“Foreign groups are interfering in our resource development projects which have already been subject to strict legal and social scrutiny before being democratically approved.”

The resources sector is a long-standing provider of revenue and jobs to Queensland and proudly operates under some of the highest environmental standards in the world.

In 2015-16 year it contributed $55.7 billion and one in seven jobs across the state, with more than 20,000 businesses benefiting and $2.2 billion in royalties flowing into state revenues that pays for teachers, nurses and police.

www.qrc.org.au

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WHILE the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) welcomes the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) Penalty Rates Reduction decision, retailer employers will be disappointed by the excessive length of the transitional arrangements handed down today.

ARA Executive Director, Russell Zimmerman said retailers were expecting to able to ramp up employment via a quick transition to more sustainable penalty rates, though the announced arrangements will only hinder the immediate benefit to employment and growth within the sector.

“The Commission found that a reduction in penalty rates will allow retailers to extend staff working hours and increase employment across the board, therefore these sluggish arrangements will unnecessarily delay the creation of new retail jobs,” Mr Zimmerman.

“Retailers are already operating in a tough environment, and the ARA will be working with its members and legal providers to strongly defend the decision to ensure the implementation of Public Holiday rates from 1 July 2017."

The ARA will further challenge any attempt by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) to defer the implementation of the Sunday penalty rates decision.

“The ARA will strongly oppose any application from the SDA for judicial review of the Sunday penalty rates decision, as this will only serve to prolong the benefits for retail employers, employees and overall industry growth.” Mr Zimmerman stated.

The ARA believes the Commission’s decision will be upheld in the Federal Court as the Union’s judicial review will risk all the benefits for Australian retailers, the unemployed and the broader Australian economy.

General Retail Industry Award 2010 Transitional Arrangements;
 

About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the retail industry’s peak representative body representing Australia’s $310 billion sector, which employs more than 1.2 million people. The ARA works to ensure retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 7,500 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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FAIRFAX, USA -- The Stevie Awards has announced that the last day to submit entries is June 14 for The 2017 (14th Annual) International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition, which attracts nominations from organizations in more than 60 nations and territories each year.

All individuals and organizations worldwide -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to The International Business Awards. Entry details are available at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA .

An international judging panel of more than 150 executives will determine the Stevie Award winners. Results will be announced on 10 August. Stevie Award winners will be presented their awards at a gala banquet at the W Hotel in Barcelona, Spain on 21 October.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Categories include:

• Management Awards 
• Company of the Year Awards
• Customer Service Awards 
• Human Resources Awards 
• Information Technology Awards
• Marketing Awards 
• New Product Awards 
• Public Relations Awards 
• Web Site Awards, Smartphone and Tablet App, and other media awards

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in the 2016 IBAs included ABS-CBN Corporation (Philippines), BSES Yamuna Power Limited (India), Clickky (Ukraine ), Dogus Group ( Turkey ), Dubai Statistics Center ( United Arab Emirates ), Forter ( USA ), Foundation Telef o nica  ( Spain ), Freelancer.com ( Australia ), Ita u Unibanco Holding S.A.  ( Brazil ), KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Company ( South Korea ), Mondelez International ( United Kingdom ), Ooredoo ( Qatar ), PJSC Aeroflot - Russian Airlines  ( Russia ), Polystar  ( Sweden ), PRIZM ( Hong Kong ), QLess, Inc. ( USA ), RheinBr u cke IT Consulting ( Germany ), Roshan ( Afghanistan ), SABC Pension Fund ( South Africa ), SUNNY SIDE UP, Inc. ( Japan ), Telkom Indonesia ( Indonesia ) and TELUS International ( Canada ), among many others.

About the Stevie Awards  
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and the Stevie Awards for Great Employers. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at  http://www.StevieAwards.com 

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THE Queensland Resources Council (QRC) welcomes today’s policy announcements by the Queensland Government of its Powering Queensland Plan to address the state’s energy needs.

This Queensland Plan has been released ahead of the Finkel review due to be released this Friday at COAG.

QRC Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said it was good to see the Queensland Government setting an example for southern states with an energy plan and releasing more land for gas exploration.

“Once again we see Queensland showing New South Wales and Victoria on how to run an energy policy by investing in gas power and releasing another 395 square kilometres of land for new gas tenure to supply the east coast market,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“It’s common knowledge the eastern seaboard of Australia is facing a gas shortage and instead of putting their head in the sand the government is looking at how to fix the problem. This is proactive step by the Queensland government.”

The QRC is however very disappointed that the Palaszczuk Government has turned away from a technology neutral approach to electricity generation, whereby low emissions power generation is provided by the lowest cost energy source available not just renewables.

“If we are to be agnostic in terms of the sources of energy the government should also support the addition of a modern high efficiency, low emission (HELE) power plant, potentially in Townsville, using some of the highest quality, low emission coal in the world right here in Queensland,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“The government is ignoring the global shift currently underway with coal-fired power generation in countries such as Japan, with new state of the art HELE plants delivering affordable, reliable energy with a significant reduction in CO2 emissions.”

In the recent QRC State of the Sector sentiment survey Queensland resources chiefs revealed the price and supply of electricity in the state was a major concern with the decision to institute a 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030.

“The government reaffirmed this target today and industry believes it’s risky to mandate half of the state’s energy mix, especially from an energy source that is intermittent,” Mr Macfarlane said.

www.qrc.org.au

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