Major minerals councils and organisations from across the country have warned the Senate to reject the Greens’ bill to ban coal mining in the Galilee Basin.
On Friday 4 January, the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) and the Queensland Mining and Energy Division of the CFMEU made submissions to the Senate to reject the Galilee Basin (Coal Prohibition) Bill 2018, which would permanently ban the mining of all coal in the Galilee Basin and stop the Adani Carmichael mine from starting operations, stating that the Bill would cost jobs and fail to meet global demand for thermal coal.
QRC Chief Executive, Ian Macfarlane, said the Bill just doesn’t stack up.
“It would be little more than an act of self-sabotage which would cost Queenslanders their jobs for no reason and for no reduction in the global use of coal,” he said.
Mr Macfarlane further said the global demand for coal is strong, and coal is forecast to remain at about 40 per cent of total power generation in the Asia Pacific region by the year 2040 under a scenario modelled by the International Energy Agency.
“If the Greens’ bid to ban coal in Queensland was successful that would simply mean the demand for coal would be met from other countries with lower quality coal, which would, in turn, lead to higher emissions,” he stated.
Tania Constable, CEO of the MCA also said that at a time when Australia’s global competitiveness as a destination for mining investment is already under threat, this Bill would further damage Australia’s investment attractiveness and create significant sovereign risk.
“The Bill undermines rigorous and thorough approvals processes at both state and Commonwealth level with which all major mining projects must comply,” she said.
The submissions can be found here.