PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Labour union the CFMEU has also thrown its weight behind calls for the Queensland government to approve the New Acland Stage 3 project.

CFMEU Queensland Mining and Energy district president Stephen Smyth said the government had to stand up for workers.

“This has gone on for long enough. I know first-hand how important mining jobs are for regional Queensland. We want to see Queenslanders employed in the coal industry whether they’re in Moranbah or at Acland.

“New Hope workers deserve better than silence and stonewalling from the government.”

Coal miner New Hope Coal has laid of 150 staff at the New Acland operations as the approvals for the Stage 3 expansion continued to lag, despite several court rulings in favour of the project.

Queensland Resources Council CEO Ian Macfarlane said the drawn out process for approvals sent a poor signal to investors.

“If Queensland wants to attract new investment that create new jobs, investors have to be confident of the rules and regulations that apply. While people respect the courts, they expect leadership from the state government.

“150 people have already lost their jobs because of the uncertainly about the mine expansion. More are at risk without approvals. The government must act to back jobs.”

The call to action comes as New Hope faces fresh opposition from the Oakey Coal Action Alliance (OCAA), which has now appealed the Queensland Court of Appeal’s final orders.

Company CEO Andrew Boyd on Wednesday said that while fair and reasonable legal action was everyone’s right, the actions of the green group were nothing more than lawfare designed to delay the project.

“We have been seeking approval to expand New Acland mine for more than 12 years. Over the past two years, we have fought and won a series of legal battles against a handful of objectors to the project.

“In the latest fight, the highest court in Queensland ruled definitively in our favour, a fact that OCAA has acknowledged by not challenging the Court of Appeal’s finding on the substantive issues.

“This latest stunt by OCAA has nothing to do with groundwater or any other environmental issues. It is clear that its action is nothing more than an attempt to delay final decisions on Stage 3,” Boyd said.

New Hope subsidiary New Acland Coal currently operates the existing New Acland mine as a 4.8-million-tonne-a-year opencut coal mine, however, the mine’s reserves are depleted. The Stage 3 expansion project will increase the mine’s yearly output to 7.5-million tonnes and will extend the operation’s life by some 12 years beyond the current end-date of mid-2020.