COAL COMFORT

HOPE FOR GALILEE BASIN MINES

AS CONTROVERSIAL Indian mining giant Adani suffers setbacks and delays, coal supporters remain confident the Galilee Basin will be opened one way or another.

This month the Indian company cut 15 jobs from its Townsville headquarters, while the Townsville City Council redirected $ 18.5 million slated for an airstrip after Adani failed to meet financial deadlines.

A spokeswoman for Adani said the “organisational changes” to the Carmichael Project team were to ensure the company had the right structure to prepare for project construction.

Meanwhile Mayor Jenny Hill said the council was open to revisiting the airstrip once Adani had secured funding.

The mining company missed a self- imposed March 31 deadline to secure the $ 6.7 billion first stage of the mine.

Despite facing dozens of legal, environmental and political battles, Adani has remained committed to building the Carmichael project.

But as thermal coal prices reach six- year trading highs, there could be other players waiting in the wings.

Industry sources told the Bulletin it is a widely held belief that billionaire Gina Rinehart will take the lead in the region and build her own rail corridor to the Basin should Adani ultimately fail to do so.

There are five other proposed coal mines in the Galilee Basin in addition to Adani, including the Alpha Coal Project, proposed by GVL Hancock Coal – a partnership between Indian company GVK and Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.

GVK placed its Galilee projects on hold in 2014 after coal prices plummeted but the recent rise prompted an unexpectedly positive statement from the company in January.

“Good quality Australian thermal coal is in demand because it is ideally suited to new generation ( high efficiency, low emissions) coal- fired power plants,” GVK said.

“This demand growth will continue and the GVK Hancock coal projects are well placed to meet demand in coming decades.”

But for now Dawson LNP MP George Christensen says the Carmichael mine is still the obvious frontrunner to open up the Galilee Basin.

“Adani aren’t the only players who could potentially move and create a lot of jobs. However it is correct to say they are the most advanced in terms of their project,” he said.

“I’d say behind them would be GVK.”

Mr Christensen is a vocal supporter of the coal industry as a “reliable and affordable” source of energy.

“The fundamentals behind coal are coming back … the price has bounced back and new mines are opening in places like the Bowen Basin,” he said. “There’s a demand for cheap, affordable baseload power in Australia and that’s coal.”

Like his parliamentary colleagues, Mr Christensen condemned the Queensland Government’s decision to veto a loan application to fund Adani’s rail line via the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility ( NAIF).

“The Government threw a massive spanner in the works with that announcement,” he said.

“It’s not easy to source finance of $ 1 billion or greater for a railway line.

“But I expect we’re actually going to see movement sooner than people realise. I think they will be finding finance somewhere else.”

Mr Christensen speculated that if Adani was working to secure alternate funding for a rail line into the Basin, they would not be widely advertising the fact.

“I don’t think they’re going to be providing updates,” he said.

“Adani have gone back to do what they need to do to secure the finance and when everything’s in order, they won’t just come out and

announce it, they’ll begin work.” Mr Christensen said he believed anti-Adani activists might disrupt the build but they would “not stop it”.

“Adani has been picked because it is the first cab off the rank – if Adani decided they were going to sell their project to BHP, you know they would be in the firing line,” he said.

Mr Christensen said he believed all of the companies with interest in the Galilee would be keeping a “close eye” on what was happening with Adani.

“I am firmly of the belief Adani is going ahead,” he said. “But I also believe that if Adani is railroaded, we won’t see any significant movement from other companies, particularly GVK as they’re also from India.”

The idea that conservationists protest against Adani because they’re Indian is a prominently held belief within the ranks of politicians.

Queensland LNP Senator Matt Canavan said he believed the focus on Adani was inherently a “racist” one.

“The ( activists’) strategy is a transparent one, they want to stop jobs being created in the Galilee and they seek to obstruct any efforts,” he said.

“I also think there’s an element of racism here, explicitly and definitely targeted at the Indian origins of Adani, and that’s regrettable.”

But Queensland Greens Senator Andrew Bartlett said he wholeheartedly rejected the assertion Adani had been targeted by activists because its ownership was Indian.

“The Adani Carmichael is the project that has had the most attention because it looked like it had risen to the top of the pack in terms of options to open up the Basin,” he said.

“Our position has always been ‘ no new thermal coal’ and the Adani project is the biggest threat at the moment.”

Senator Bartlett said there was “plenty of evidence” Adani had a poor track record operating in other countries.

“I think it’s quite appropriate of myself and others to point that out,” he said.

Senator Bartlett said no government could “seriously say” that it was genuine about addressing climate change while still issuing exploration licences for coal.

“It’s very categorical, no new coal anywhere in Galilee,” he said.

“There are a lot of renewable projects going forward and a fair chunk of jobs connected to them.”

Senator Canavan said the Townsville community had a vested interest in ensuring the Adani project went ahead.

“The jobs created by Adani would have a significant impact on Townsville,” he said.

“All together there are up to 16,000 direct jobs connected to the proposed projects in the Galilee Basin – it’s massive.”

Senator Canavan said Adani’s decision to place it’s headquarters in Townsville highlighted the benefits the city stands to gain from the mining project.

“I think from a selfish Townsville perspective, you would want to see it get over the line,” he said.

“No other mining company in Australia has put their headquarters in a regional location since Mount Isa Mines.

“The biggest mining town in Australia is actually Brisbane, because that’s where all the headquarters are so there’s admin, lawyers, and finance staff – I would love to see more of that opportunity for us.”

Senator Canavan said the next step for Adani would be to follow through on its final investment decision and make a financial close.

“The basin is opening, whoever does it,” he said.

“We will always need some level of foreign investment to do it.

“The frustrating thing is that the Galilee Basin gets equalled with Adani. That’s not the case. Adani is a means through which to open up the massive economic opportunities that come from the whole Galilee, that’s why it would be great. “That’s just the beginning.” JVK Group and Hancock Prospecting were contacted for comment.