{"id":13964,"date":"2015-03-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-15T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peopleconnexion.com\/abbot-point-expansion-to-go-ahead\/"},"modified":"2021-08-18T19:27:01","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T09:27:01","slug":"abbot-point-expansion-to-go-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peopleconnexion.com\/abbot-point-expansion-to-go-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Abbot Point expansion to go ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tAbbot Point expansion to go ahead <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tTHE $1 billion-plus Abbot Point port expansion could start this year after the State Government came up with a third plan to resolve environmental issues over dredging. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThe plan avoids both the Caley Valley wetlands option of the Newman government and the dumping-at-sea proposal of the Bligh government ? and it could save taxpayers millions of dollars and create 20,000 jobs, according to the Government.<\/p>\n

\n\tBoth ideas faced a huge backlash from environmentalists and the project was facing significant delays.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe port expansion is the linchpin for developing the Galilee Basin coalfields.<\/p>\n

\n\tMost environmentalists have welcomed the plan that saves the wetlands but still oppose the expansion of the port and coalfields.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Palaszczuk Government will now submit plans for federal approval to dump the spoil on a site known as T2, which was once considered by BHP Billiton for its planned coal terminal but has since been abandoned.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe scheme appears to scuttle plans by Clive Palmer’s Waratah Coal to use T2 for his project.<\/p>\n

\n\tMr Palmer said he didn’t know anything about it and was no longer in business, while a spokesman for Waratah said they had yet to meet with the Government.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe dredging and dumping will be paid for by the mining companies Adani and GVK.<\/p>\n

\n\tPremier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the Abbot Point solution is both environmentally and economically responsible.<\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\tMs Palaszczuk said the project was environmentally sustainable and fiscally responsible.<\/p>\n

\n\t?I’ve always said I support the responsible and sustainable development of the Galilee Basin and Abbot Point, and the agreement we’ve reached demonstrates that,? she said.<\/p>\n

\n\t?T2 is the only remaining unallocated industrial land at the port and the only responsible way to proceed.?<\/p>\n

\n\tState Development Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said unlike the previous government’s project, the significant costs involved in the dredging would not be funded by taxpayers.<\/p>\n

\n\tAdani, which is planning the $16 billion Carmichael megamine in the Galilee Basin, said the scheme ensured it could meet its guidelines to start development later this year. It also has a planned $2.5 billion rail project linking the mine to the port which must start soon.<\/p>\n

\n\tLocals in the nearby town of Bowen are breathing a sigh of relief and looking to the influx of jobs and spending.<\/p>\n

\n\tLarrikin Hotel publican and Bowen Chamber of Commerce president Bruce Hedditch said residents strongly supported the development and he was delighted by the Premier’s plan and called on opponents to now accept it.<\/p>\n

\n\t?They have had a fair chance and everything they have said has been countered by facts,?? he said.<\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Abbot Point expansion to go ahead THE $1 billion-plus Abbot Point port expansion could start this year after the State Government came up with a third plan to resolve environmental issues over dredging. The plan avoids both the Caley Valley wetlands option of the Newman government and the dumping-at-sea proposal of the Bligh government ? …<\/p>\n

Abbot Point expansion to go ahead<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-13964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-aus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peopleconnexion.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peopleconnexion.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peopleconnexion.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peopleconnexion.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peopleconnexion.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.peopleconnexion.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peopleconnexion.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/14697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peopleconnexion.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peopleconnexion.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peopleconnexion.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}