Commonsense victory will provide work

WE’VE been down too many rabbit holes on this saga to celebrate but last night’s breakthrough State Cabinet deal on Adani offers tantalising hope to jobseekers.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has secured unanimous support from her Cabinet team to craft a revised royalties scheme for the Indian mining giant.

Under the deal, Adani will pay less royalties for the early years of the mine in exchange for paying a higher rate down the track — plus interest.

As a result, Queensland taxpayers will still receive every cent of royalties — more than $ 300 million a year for hospitals, schools, roads and infrastructure.

Ms Palaszczuk says she is determined to ensure this deal unleashes a sustained era of development in the state’s rich greenfield mining regions, including the Galilee and Surat basins and the NorthWest Minerals Province.

In short, the Adani deal forms the template for all greenfield projects to deliver certainty to investors and job security to the tens of thousands of Queenslanders living in the surrounding towns.

We will wait to see the ink dry on the Adani board decision on Carmichael — which could now come as early as next week. But for now, credit where it is due. Ms Palaszczuk has been under intense pressure for the past 10 days since her factional enemies from the ALP Left ambushed her by leaking a draft of the proposed Adani royalty deal.

It is no exaggeration to say her Premiership was on the line.

If she failed to stare down this challenge, if she failed to haul Cabinet into line, her deputy and Left leader Jackie Trad could well have toppled her.

Ms Trad commands more numbers in Cabinet.

But Ms Palaszczuk has emerged triumphant with a deal that promises thousands of jobs to central and North Queensland.

Clearly ministers have recognised that it is possible to develop mines and still safeguard our environment — in particular our precious Great Barrier Reef.

They have also recognised it is critical to find ways to work with international companies — with rules that protect taxpayers — to ensure we are not seen as a sovereign risk to investors. That is a victory for common sense. More importantly, it is a victory for workers and those who hunger for work.