PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Queensland Treasurer has flagged a possible investment into the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) near Mackay, with the state’s investment arm, Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) committing to take a 9.9% stake in the coal export facility.
Queensland Resources Council CEO Ian Macfarlane said that the QIC’s decision to invest in the DBCT is a clear vote of confidence by the state government in the role of resources in Queensland’s Covid-19 recovery and economic growth for decades to come.
Macfarlane said the QRC had previously sought and received a commitment from the government to provide regulatory certainty for DBCT and the Central Queensland Coal Network, with the independent Queensland Competition Authority to have oversight of both assets as regulated monopolies until 2030 and 2040 respectively.
“The QRC looks forward to continuing to work in partnership with the government to develop the resources sector, particularly through the preparation of a Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan that the Treasurer and I announced last month,” Macfarlane said.
“The development of our resources sector is critical for Queensland’s Covid-19 recovery and its longer-term economic growth.
“Resources is now supporting one in six jobs in Queensland, which equates to the jobs of more than 420 000 men and women, so our sector is critical to Queensland’s economic stability and success.
“The resources industry is also essential to the state continuing to develop its – and frankly the world’s – energy mix including coal, gas, renewables and hydrogen,” he said.