The Adani Carmichael project will create 3,900 direct jobs in operation. The total number of jobs including indirect employment is approximately 11,800 jobs.[1]

The construction phase will create around 2,500 direct jobs. The total number of jobs including indirect employment is approximately 8,300 jobs.[2]

Adani has announced that all of these jobs will be for Australians. Adani will prioritise locals, and their headquarters will be based in Townsville.

These jobs are desperately needed because unemployment in North Queensland is at 8% compared to a national unemployment rate of 5.9%.  Some areas have even higher unemployment rates than the national average like Townsville at 10.9%, Mackay at 6.8% and Rockhampton at 7.2% (at February, 2017)[3]

That is why the project has the unified support of North Queensland mayors, trade unions (such as the AWU and the CFMEU), the Liberal National Party and the Queensland Labor party. Bill Shorten and the Federal Labor party are isolated with the Greens in their “wishy-washy” support for the project.

• Ben Swan AWU QLD Secretary
  • “Our full support and full weight is behind this development if it means regional jobs are ­created.
  • “I have no difficulty ... about governments providing mechanisms to ensure that projects of ­national significance get to see the light of day,” he said.
• Peter Lamps AWU SA Secretary
  • “It is not unreasonable for the taxpayer, where taxpayers’ dollars are used, to support an industry,” Mr Lamps said. “I think that has been demonstrated in a number of previous exercises by previous federal governments.
  • “If we look right around the world, governments support industries to various levels either through co-partnerships or through a guarantee by way of taxpayer dollars when a business case stacks up.”
• Government has a role to play in the development of industries, jobs and towns in regional communities.
  • On the first day of spring in 1961, SIr Robert Menzies announced that the Commonwealth Government would provide the NSW Government 2.65 million pounds ($73 million in today’s dollars) to upgrade coal loading facilities at Newcastle. The investments would support the then fledgling coal trade with Japan.

 

The Adani project will open up the first coal basin in Australia for more than 40 years

The Adani project is just one of many mines that could open in the Galilee Basin.

Five other mines could create a further 12,000 direct jobs, and include:

GVK / Hancock’s Alpha coal project could create 3,400 jobs in construction and 3,200 in operation.[4]

Hancock’s Kevin’s Corner project could create 1,500 jobs in construction and 2,000 jobs in operation.[5]

Macmines’s China Stone project could create 3900 jobs in construction and 3,400 jobs in operation.[6]

Waratah Coal’s Galilee Coal project could create 3,500 jobs in construction and 2,300 jobs in operation.[7]

The South Galilee Coal project could create 1,600 jobs in construction and 1,200 jobs in operation.[8]

In total, the Galilee Basin could create 15,000 jobs (including the Adani project). The coal mining sector employs 44,000 Australians at the moment.

All told the Galilee Basin has coal reserves of 29.2 gigatonnes[9] and is comparable to the size of other major coal basins in Australia like the Hunter Valley, the Bowen Basin and the Surat Basin.

Arrium steel has been handed a lifeline by Adani, signing a contract to supply 56,000 tonnes of steel for the railway line. This will inject $70 Million into the company and help support the 3000 employees in Whyalla.

Any Government loan to open up the Galilee would be an investment not a subsidy

To open up this new precinct a 400 kilometre rail line needs to be built. If the Government is to provide a loan to build this line it would be an investment not a subsidy. A loan would only be provided under the expectation that it is paid back.

The proposed loan is being assessed by the independent and expert board of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF). The Government cannot direct the NAIF and the NAIF will rigorously assess the project on its merits.

 

The Carmichael rail line will be open access

Under the NAIF’s Investment Mandate they must give preference to projects that are “multi-use”. The Government would only invest in a rail line to the Galilee that is open access and can help spur the development of more mines and more jobs.

Under the Queensland Government’s plan for the Galilee Basin, the Carmichael rail line will be open access to other miners so that rail lines do no criss-cross the productive cattle producing areas of Central Queensland.

• Adani has always supported this approach and want to attract greater use of their rail and port infrastructure. Adani are not a mining company. Their primary interests are in freight, port and energy infrastructure.

Every other coal basin in Australia has been opened up with Government investment in rail lines and ports. These investments have paid off handsomely for Australia as coal has surged to be our second biggest export earner.  

There is community support for Adani in Central Queensland

On 25 March, 2017, the Courier Mail published an open letter from the 8 regional mayors; Jenny Hill (Townsville), Kerry Hayes (Central Highlands), Liz Schmidt (Charters Towers), Andrew Willcox (Whitsunday), Margaret Strelow (Rockhampton), Matt Burnett (Gladstone) and Greg Williamson (Mackay) advocating for the Carmichael mine.

• “Whilst there are some who still want to spoil these opportunities, now is the time to stand up for new jobs in Regional Queensland.”

A Poll by the Townsville Bulletin in May 2017, surveying Mundingburra had a majority of respondents support Adani’s proposal and the provision of a concessional loan.

The Queensland Labor party support the provision of a loan to fund the rail line to open up the Galilee Basin, as does the Australian Workers Union. The CFMEU want the Government to build the railway line.

 

The Federal Labor party are not backing coal jobs

The Federal Labor party are isolated with the Greens in their opposition to the rail line.

The Labor party’s opposition to even considering the loan undermines the independence of the NAIF and the bipartisan support for northern development.

• Labor supported the establishment of the NAIF and its governance arrangements as it passed through the Parliament in May 2016. The NAIF should be left do their job.

Labor is trying to walk both sides of the street. Bill Shorten says that the Adani mine must “stack up” environmentally even though the project has received over 300 environmental approval from both the State and Federal Governments.

 

There are strict environmental conditions placed on the Adani mine

State and Federal Governments have placed more than 300 strict conditions on the Adani mine. These include:

• Adani must ‘return’ at least 730 mega-litres of water per year for five years to the Great Artesian Basin to replace water used during mining.
• Requiring protection and improvement of 31,000 hectares of southern black-throated finch habitat, 135 hectares of ornamental snake habitat and 5,600 hectares of yakka skink habitat.
• Requiring $1 million of funding for research programs to improve conservation of threatened species in the Galilee Basin.
• Protecting the Doongmabulla Springs my restricting the drawdown of water to 20 cm and early monitoring triggers to ensure that this amount is kept to.

The mine is approximately 300 kilometres inland from the Queensland coast. Mining will not have any direct impacts on the reef.

Adani is planning other investments in Australia too

Solar

• Jennifer Purdie, Chief Executive of Adani Australia Renewables, said the company had secured agreements to build two solar farms, each with capacity of 100-200 MW in QLD and SA. This will expand the Adani’s solar projects to four sites amounting to 650 MW.
• Adani is seeking new sites to expand its solar projects to a combined capacity of 1,500 MW by 2020. That achievement would mean an investment of around $2bn-$3bn of investment in this country.

Agriculture

• The Queensland Government is in talks with Adani, urging them to extend their investment in Queensland to agriculture. As food security is an issue in India, a delegation of the Queensland Premier and eight regional mayors used a trip in March 2017 to encourage Adani to invest in Queensland agriculture.