HIGH- GRADE COAL TO CUT EMISSIONS Indian power has clean benefits
SICK patients are likely missing out on specialist medical care because of Queensland Health’s poor handling of their travel subsidies.
Ombudsman Phil Clarke has rebuked QH over its $ 80 million Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme – which helps regional Queenslanders attend long- distance specialist appointments – finding it had not addressed significant problems despite four audits since 2010.
Sparked by complaints, Mr Clarke’s report found Hospital and Health Services ( HHS) were making inconsistent decisions, with patients treated differently depending on where they applied for the subsidy.
“It appears that patients submitting their applications to better resourced hospitals, especially hospitals with a dedicated travel office, are more likely to have their travel and accommodation booked and fully paid for by the hospital,” the report said.
It found QH had “limited awareness” of how its allocated funding was being spent by HHS and whether they were being under or overfunded in assisting 72,000 patients a year.
Lags of up to eight months in reimbursing patients for significant expenses meant some were under financial duress.
JESSICA MARSZALEK THE high- energy content of Adani’s Carmichael coal will provide a 60 per cent emissions benefit when burned in India’s power stations, a mining forum in Townsville was told yesterday.
Adani Australia director of projects Peter Thomas provided the figures to the North Queensland Mining and Resources Industry Forum, saying he wanted to reach out to anyone worried about climate change.
Mr Thomas said the company’s 4600MW coal- fired power station in Mundra, India, was using about 16 million tonnes of coal a year with a calorific or energy value of 3000 kilocalories sourced from Indonesia, South Africa and India.
That compared with an energy value from Carmichael coal of “a little bit north” of 5000 kilocalories.
“It doesn’t take Albert Einstein to figure out that a higher energy component coal is going to be better for carbon emissions,” Mr Thomas said. “I want to reach out to people in the audience who are worried about climate change and the leaching out of the ( Great Barrier) Reef and a lot of the alarmist stuff out there.
“This project is actually going to help the greenhouse impact of coal plants around the world because you are using more efficient coal.
“You are getting a 60 per cent benefit to what carbon would be introduced to the environment for every unit of carbon that’s used.”
But anti- Adani campaigners rejected the argument with GetUp! spokesman Sam Regester saying it was irrelevant because power from Adani’s loss- making Mundra plant was being replaced with much cheaper renewable generation.
Mr Thomas provided an outline on Adani’s interests in Australia which include solar and wind generation as well as agriculture.
He also gave an update on its “reshaped” Carmichael project, confirming its capacity in the first few years had been reduced from 60 million to a “little over” 25 million tonnes a year.
After financial approval was given this week, Mr Thomas said it was likely the first sod would be turned in September or October.
Amendment to native title laws, expected to be passed next week, was the “significant outstanding” item.
Mr Thomas said the mine, which included underground and open cut projects, would be open pit.
He said the plan for a 388km rail line from the mine to Abbot Point was lit- tle changed and would be Queensland’s first standard gauge line able to carry an extra one- third volume.
“It’s fully intended to cart not just coal from the Carmichael project but for as many mines as possible in the Galilee region,” he said.
Mr Thomas said Adani hoped to begin solar projects at Moranbah and Whyalla in the next 12 months and was also cons i d e r i n g wind farms.
He said some of Adani’s agriculture executives had been in Australia recently and wanted to start “ramping up” their activities.
He said Adani was one of the largest producers of edible oils and were looking to produce one million tonnes of pulses.