Staff let go at New Hope

ABOUT 14 per cent of New Hope Group’s corporate office staff in Brisbane have lost their jobs, in the latest round of cuts to the company.

It comes as the State Government continues to delay approvals for stage three of the New Acland Coal Mine.

About 15 per cent of workers at New Hope Group’s port facility, Queensland Bulk Handling have also been made redundant.

A decision is yet to be made about redundancies for workers at the New Acland site.

The remaining workers at the corporate office, West Moreton, Burton and Bridgeport will move to a nine-day fortnight and take a 10 per cent reduction in pay as of July 1.

QBH logistics team members will have a decrease of almost 30 per cent in their salary.

According to The Australian, in total the cuts equate to about 23 total job losses at the Brisbane head office and port.

New Hope Group CEO Shane Stephan said overall, all the changes would impact more than 150 workers and their families.

“While this is regrettable, the reduction in hours and pay for our workforce means we can keep the number of redundancies to a minimum at this point in time,” he said. “However, continued uncertainty and delays around the approvals for stage three will see production at New Acland continue to reduce and further redundancies will result across all areas of the business.

The State Government has previously said it would not issue final approvals for stage three until all legal hurdles are cleared, a position Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham reiterated yesterday.

“The government’s position on the New Acland Coal Mine expansion has been consistent since our commitment before the 2017 election: to accept the decision of the courts,” he said.

“We will await the outcome of the High Court processes before finalising the remaining approvals for this project.”

A challenge against the mine’s expansion is set to be heard in the High Court later this year.

tobi.loftus@thechronicle.com.au