‘Arrogance’: Town faces uncertain future under new bill
A remote township looks set to face an uncertain future after the introduction of a controversial bill which also curtails rights to object to mining proposals.
An isolated community may face an uncertain future after being blindsided by reforms that repeal laws requiring a mining giant to locate workers in a struggling town.
Isaac Regional Council mayor Kelly Vea Vea has taken aim at the controversial bill, accusing the Queensland government of abandoning the battling Bowen Basin town of Glenden.
Under the bill introduced this week, the Liberal National government’s reforms would repeal legislation forcing QCoal to house 100 per cent of its $1.7 billion Byerwen Coal Mine workforce at Glenden in central Queensland.
“It isn’t a mining tenement, it’s a community of people that have built their lives in that town,” Vea Vea said.
“(This) shows a clear arrogance of the state government when it comes to the social licence of mining companies in the community.”
The reforms will undo the former Labor government’s laws that were designed to save Glenden, 160km west of Mackay, from demolition in 2023 by requiring the mining giant to base its workers in the town.
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Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dale Last said the old laws failed to consider workforce health and safety, as well as the availability of critical infrastructure including water supply.
The state government said it had delivered a plan for Glenden’s future after opening a registration of interest for anyone interested in purchasing land and investing in the town.
However Vea Vea hit out at the government, saying the reforms had been not been flagged with the community.
“At no time whatsoever were we made aware that there would be legislation introduced to parliament that absolved QCoal of their commitments to the Glenden community,” she said.
She also accused QCoal of refusing to engage in discussions with the council.
“QCoal committed to housing their workers locally in camps and in houses, and after they got their approval, they walked back on that,” Vea Vea said.
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“I’ve got battery projects and solar farms that have more social investment planning and commitments to community than this $1.7 billion mine.”
QCoal was contacted for comment.
Glenden, which has a population of about 500 people, was originally built in 1981 by Mount Isa Mines – now owned by multinational conglomerate Glencore – to accommodate workers at Newlands coal mine.
It was scheduled for demolition in 2023 after the mine closed, only to be spared by the Palaszczuk government.
The Byerwen mine, approved in 2014, yields up to 10 million tonnes of coal per annum.
The Queensland government has also come under fire after introducing reforms that restrict grounds for objections to mining leases.
Only councils and landholders who live within 125km of a lease will be allowed to object but they won’t be able to do it on environmental grounds.
“Queenslanders should be able to protect every inch of the state from inappropriate and invasive mining,” Queensland Conservation Council said in a statement.
“They shouldn’t be denied that right simply because they live more than 125km away from a particular mine.”
-with AAP
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