$69bn coal sale is big boost to CQ

Ho ho home game: Gold Coast United owner Clive Palmer yesterday announced free admission to the club’s last home game before Christmas.

Paul Osborne

ROCKHAMPTON people have been urged to roll up their sleeves and get ready for the hard work that’s about to start as the region reaps the rewards of Australia’s biggest coal export deal.

On the weekend, mining magnate Clive Palmer announced he’d secured a $US60 billion ($69 billion) deal to export coal to China, which he says will create thousands of jobs in Queensland and most likely restore the state’s AAA credit rating.

The coal will come from a proposed massive mining project at Alpha, about 450km west of Rockhampton.

According to Rockhampton’s community leaders it’s a move that’s going to lead to significant population growth and a projected big job increase in the region.

Mayor Brad Carter yesterday said the population could grow by thousands because of this.

“We have been monitoring the project closely and this is good news for our region,” Cr Carter said.

“We’ll start to notice an impact from here on through.

“Companies will start to position themselves to offer a range of services.”

He said the Rockhampton region had been talked about as the major service centre, ahead of places like Gladstone and Mackay.

“I believe a lot of the jobs will be new jobs,” Cr Carter said.

“During the construction phase and moving into the operational phase there will be significant upwards pressure on population growth in this region.

“That’s very much part of our thinking and we’re incorporating this into our whole-of-region planning.”

Cr Carter said the timing of the announcement had come earlier than he thought it would.

Member for Rockhampton Robert Schwarten said there would be strong economic outcomes for the region.

Mr Schwarten agreed the project was closer aligned to Rockhampton than any other major regional centre.

“There will be significant pressure on the workforce of this region,” Mr Schwarten said.

“I think we can handle it.”

He said it was important to get the balance between new coal jobs, and environmentally sustainable practices, right.

Meanwhile, CQUniversity Professor in Regional Development Economics John Rolfe said the announcement was big news for CQ.

He said the magnitude of the deal was far bigger than anticipated.

“It is something that we were aware of, but the project seems to be bigger than what was originally estimated,” Professor Rolfe said.

“I’m surprised by the employment impact.”

He said the project would benefit Rockhampton, but it was still unclear where the bulk of the workforce would come from.

“There’s the potential a lot will come from South-East Queensland, where they will fly in and fly out,” Professor Rolfe said.

He said to get the maximum benefit for Central Queensland workforce access needed to be provided to the local areas of Barcaldine, with support from Rockhampton.

“I think there will be a bit of a debate from the impact for Alpha because of the size of this and also the extent of the fly-in, fly-out workers and the impact on the regional benefits.

“What we are seeing is mining going to a new stage of development in terms of the size of what’s happening,” Professor Rolfe said.