QUEENSLAND – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Adani still getting special royalty deal

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 15-Feb-18

Queensland’s Deputy Premier Jackie Trad says Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal mine would be entitled to defer royalty payments for four years if the project proceeds. The State Government approved the royalty scheme in May 2017, which will also apply to other resources projects in the Galilee Basin. Trad has rejected suggestions that Adani has been given a "royalty holiday", arguing that interest will be payable on the deferred payments. Meanwhile, the state’s Department of Environment & Science has rejected New Hope Group’s amended environmental authority for a proposed expansion of its New Acland coal mine.

CORPORATES
ADANI MINING PTY LTD, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT AND SCIENCE, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, LAND COURT OF QUEENSLAND, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND MINES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

First Greens MP to hold ALP to account

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Original article by Sarah Elks
The Australian – Page: 4 : 7-Dec-17

The Australian Labor Party is set to be returned to office in Queensland after securing the 47 seats it needs to form government. The Liberal-National Party has won 39 seats to date, but Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls has yet to concede defeat. Katter’s Australian Party has won three seats in state parliament, while Michael Berkman will become the state’s first Greens MP. Berkman has indicated that he will seek to revoke Adani’s licence to develop the Carmichael coal mine.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, KATTER’S AUSTRALIAN PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF QUEENSLAND

Labor hits voters with new taxes

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 24-Nov-17

Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt released details of four new or increased taxes on 23 November, just two days before that state’s election. The taxes, which include a new tax on luxury cars and an increase in the transfer duty surcharge imposed on overseas buyers of property, are due to come into effect in June 2018. They are aimed at helping to fund the $A2.8 billion worth of commitments that Labor has announced during the election campaign, but Liberal National Party treasury spokesman Scott Emerson says boosting taxes is not the way to grow the Queensland economy.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND. TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, TATTS GROUP LIMITED – ASX TTS, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF QUEENSLAND

Labor stonewalls on Adani incentives

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Original article by Michael McKenna, Sarah Elks
The Australian – Page: 8 : 10-Nov-17

The Queensland Government continues to attract scrutiny over its dealings with India-based Adani regarding its $A16.5bn Carmichael coal and rail project. The Government struck a deal with Adani in May to defer some royalties payments, but it has refused to disclose any details of the deal. However, the Australian Labor Party had stated in 2015 that it would not make any "secret deals" if it won the state election.

CORPORATES
ADANI MINING PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, QUEENSLAND. TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, NORTHERN AUSTRALIA INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY

LNP clear: ‘There will be no deals done with One Nation’

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Original article by Jamie Walker, Michael McKenna
The Australian – Page: 8 : 8-Nov-17

Liberal-National Party of Queensland president Gary Spence has stressed that it will not seek a preferences deal with One Nation. He also notes that One Nation’s federal leader Pauline has also ruled out a preferences deal with the LNP in the state election, although Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk continues to claim that the LNP and One Nation will agree to swap preferences. Meanwhile, Hanson has downplayed suggestions that One Nation will seek a role in the state’s future government if it gains the power of power.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, LIBERAL PARTY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

State government ‘split over Adani mine’

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 2-Nov-17

Liberal-National Party leader Tim Nicholls says a number of senior Queensland Government ministers oppose Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal mine, while even Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has been reluctant to support it. Nicholls adds that his party fully supports the $A16.5bn project. The Opposition also supports the construction of a clean-coal power station in North Queensland, and has questioned the Government’s failure to release a report which found that it would be financially viable.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENERGY AND WATER SUPPLY

One Nation wild card in Qld poll

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 30-Oct-17

Former Queensland premier Campbell Newman forecasts that One Nation could win up to 10 seats in the 2017 state election. He believes that an alliance with One Nation is the only way that Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls will be able to form government. One Nation’s state leader Steve Dickson is optimistic that the party will hold the balance of power in parliament after the election. Meanwhile, Nicholls says issues such as job creation and the cost of living will be the focus of the Liberal-National Party’s election campaign.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, ADANI MINING PTY LTD

Unions blasted for ‘owning Labor lock, stock and barrel’

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Original article by Sarah Elks
The Australian – Page: 2 : 27-Oct-17

Liberal-National Party leader Tim Nicholls says documents obtained under Right to Information law demonstrate the links between the Queensland Government and unions. He has accused the state branch of the Australian Labor Party of being "owned" by unions in the wake of revelations that Energy Minister Mark Bailey communicated with Electrical Trades Union official Peter Simpson via a personal email account during the union’s wage negotiations with a state-owned energy utility.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENERGY AND WATER SUPPLY, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Miners hit out at industrial kill laws

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Original article by Michael McKenna
The Australian – Page: 7 : 10-Oct-17

The Queensland Resources Council has accused the State Government of not consulting it over new industrial manslaughter laws. The proposed laws, instigated as a result of union pressure, are due to go before state parliament on 11 October. However, the QRC has only just learned that the laws may be extended to cover the minerals sector, and it states that they will conflict with existing health and safety rules. The QRC has threatened to campaign against the Government at the next election if the proposed laws are not amended.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND RESOURCES COUNCIL LIMITED, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF STATE DEVELOPMENT, KATTER’S AUSTRALIAN PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Miners urge cost assessment in carbon-neutral goal

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 20 : 13-Jul-17

Queensland Resources Council CEO Ian Macfarlane has questioned whether a target of 2050 for the state to become carbon neutral is achievable. He says the target is "very ambitious" given that the state boasts high-intensity industries such as LNG and alumina production. He has urged the State Government to take into account the cost of the push for carbon neutrality. Macfarlane and the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association’s Rhys Turner have both called for a national approach to reducing carbon emissions.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND RESOURCES COUNCIL LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED