building queensland's future together - part 2

8/4/2019 Building Queensland's Future Together - Part 2

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2/16BUILDING QUEENSLANDS FUTURE TOGETHER 11

increasing investment in industrial development and infrastructure projects.

Themostimportantstepistoensureeconomicandinfrastructureplanningdeliversrealandtangiblebenets

to local communities involved in major industrial development and infrastructure projects. Prosperity for local

communities and a fair share for all Queenslanders right across the State needs to be a key component ininfrastructure planning.

Government cannot simply play the role of regulator it needs to play the role of facilitator and problem

solver.TheoceoftheCoordinator-Generalnotonlyneedstodrivemajorprojects,itneedstocoordinate

and negotiate to ensure the best outcomes for Government and communities.

Infrastructure Investment - Making it Happen

Structure of Government

The structure of government departments, the lack of leadership of Ministers and unclear goals and objectivesof key agencies currently undermines the ability to make things happen.

The complex and unwieldy Departmental structures of DERM and DEEDI are hampering project development

andservicedelivery.DERMinparticularissingledoutbyindustryandcommunityleadersalikeasstiing

investment in key economic projects as project approvals are lost in a mire of red tape and ideological zeal.

Major reforms of the Governments economic development agencies are required if an LNP Government is to

grow the economy in order to continue to invest in critical infrastructure.

In particular the current mega Departments of DEEDI and DERM need to be restructured so there are clear

lines of authority with indisputable Ministerial responsibility and accountability.

The Treasurer and Treasury should be responsible for ensuring the budget gets back in the black and thestates economic environment is conducive to investment and economic growth getting the overall settings

right and ensuring the budget has the ability to invest in social and community infrastructure.

The Minister for State Development and the Coordinator General need to be focussed on the dual roles

of driving the economic development of the state and delivering major projects. The Minister for State

Development needs to be focused on driving the economic development of key sectors, regions and projects

andensuringthatbenetsofeconomicgrowtharereturnedtolocalcommunities.

The role of the Coordinator General needs to be strongly focused on coordinating and delivering major

projects rather than just being a regulator.

The EPA and Department of Natural Resources need to be re-established as separate agencies so the

Ministers can provide proper leadership and their respective agencies are focussed on their core business.

The Premier should provide the overall leadership for infrastructure investment by establishing a Cabinet

CommitteecomprisedofthePremier,TreasurerandMinisterforStateDevelopmenttosetcleargoalswithrm

time frames and ensure an atmosphere of investor certainty.

This committee also needs to be supported by an Economic Development Leadership Group comprising

suchseniorocersastheDirector-GeneralofDepartmentofthePremierandCabinet,UnderTreasurer,

Coordinator-General and the Director-General of Department of State Development to:

1. Coordinate and drive economic development in key industrial development and

infrastructure projects.

2. Remove regulatory bottlenecks and streamline approval processes for all major industrial

development and infrastructure projects.


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primary goal as it is only economic development that will provide the revenue required to provide the social

infrastructure and services Queenslanders need.

With a clear commitment to driving economic growth and development, an LNP State Government would

entrench a genuine commitment to work in partnership with both Local Governments and the FederalGovernmentaswellastheprivatesectortoplan,nance,deliverandoperatecriticalinfrastructuresothe

economy can grow.

To make this happen, industry, the community and potential investors not only need to have certainty about

an LNP State Governments economic vision for Queensland and its approach to infrastructure delivery, but

most importantly of all the rules of engagement and the principles underpinning this approach.

An LNP government would provide this certainty by embracing the key principles of:

clarity, certainty and consistency in the vision and direction of Government

transparent assessment and approval processes focused on outcomes

a clear planning process focused on community consultation and underpinned by analytical andscienticrigour

an approach that embraces the expertise, innovation and value for money the private sector can bring to

delivering and operating infrastructure

pragmaticandeectiveriskallocationthatmaximisestheoutcomesforQueenslandersandprovides

acceptable investment opportunities for investors and ensures the protection of genuine intellectual

property.

Itiswidelyrecognisedthattheglobalnancialcrisishassignicantlyimpactedontheavailabilityofprivate

capital for infrastructure and the attractiveness and acceptability of previous investment models. Across

the entire investment market debt is more expensive than it was, risk has been repriced and in relation to

infrastructure investment in particular, the private sector is just not willing to take on the level of risk in fundingpublicinfrastructurethattheydidpriortotheglobalnancialcrisis.

Across Australia, the capacity and inclination of the private sector to invest in public infrastructure is strong,

but industry is seeking more sharing of risk with the public sector. There is ample indication that capital

markets are actively seeking investment in long term regulated assets and the long term predictable returns

they can provide are especially attractive to such investors as superannuation funds.

Investors seeking such returns from long term regulated assets would be attracted to investment in

Queensland infrastructure projects that provide a return to investors earned from the infrastructure project

meeting predetermined availability and service standards set by Government rather than the risk associated

with the reliance on revenues streams from projects that have a high patronage risk.

An LNP Government would guarantee the investment community a commitment to a pipeline of opportunitiesso industry has the required certainty they need to invest the time, people and resources required to

participateinthecompetitivetenderingprocessesneededtonance,constructandmaintainmajor

infrastructure projects.

To achieve this pipeline of projects a unit will be established within Treasury called Queensland Projects

todevelopandadministerinnovativefundingmodelsthatspecicallypursuetheopportunitiestomaximise

private investment in infrastructure in Queensland.

ThecriticalingredientrequiredisGovernmentleadership,rmcommitmentsandanapproachthatmatches

therightnancingoptionwiththerightprojectandthatproperlyallocatesriskbetweenthepartiesinvolved.

Embracingtheinnovationandecienciestheprivatesectorcanbringtobuildingandoperatingcritical

infrastructure in Queensland would be a key goal of an LNP State Government.


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The Surat Basin

From the Gas Fields to Gladstone - new energy from a new industry

The Surat basin is located in Southern Queensland immediately to the South of the more developed Bowen

Basin with the east west boundary between the two generally accepted to be located in the vicinity of the

town of Taroom.

Dalby, Roma Chinchilla and Miles are the main regional towns with the impacts of the development of the

large resources of coal and coal seam gas in the Surat Basin extending East to Toowoomba as the regional

service centre and North through Biloela to the regional port city of Gladstone.

OverthelastveyearstherehasbeenarealisationthattheSuratbasincontainsacoalseamgasresource

thatisanenergysourceofworldsignicance.Thedevelopmentofthisworldclassresourceasanexport

industry for Queensland will have a massive positive impact on the Queensland economy for many years to

come.

It will provide jobs and career opportunities for generations of Queenslanders and the Billions of dollars to

be invested by multi-national energy companies will provide opportunities for local businesses to grow anddevelop.

The Surat Basin is already experiencing extremely rapid development with three CSG to LNG projects in the

earlystagesofconstructionandanotherinthenalstagesofplanning.Theeconomicactivityassociatedwith

these huge projects is already rapidly increasing pressure on all existing infrastructure everywhere across the

region from Toowoomba to Gladstone.

In addition to the CSG projects, the coal resources of the Surat basin are also in line for development with a

majormineawaitingnalapprovalandmanyothersintheplanningstages.

Major projects already under construction or about to begin construction in the Surat Basin include:

GLNG CSG to LNG for export - Santos and partners

QCLNG CSG to LNG for export BG and QGC

APLNG CSG to LNG for export Origin and partners

Wandoan Coal Mine Xstrata

Surat Basin Railway Wandoan to Banana

Roads

There is already a critical road situation in the region with the main access roads to the Surat Basin grossly

inadequate for the development of the resource projects already under way.

Concern about the regions road network is high among local Government and community leaders and isseen as typifying the failure of the State Labor Government to invest in the resource regions that will drive

Queenslands economic growth in the future.

In particular the Warrego Highway through Toowoomba and west to Dalby is widely recognised as a major

problem and a prime example of infrastructure that should have been upgraded many years ago.

ExamplesofcriticallyinadequateroadsidentiedbylocalGovernmentsandindustryare:

Toowoomba range Western Freight Corridor

Warrego Highway Toowoomba to Roma

Bruce Highway Gladstone north and south

Leichardt Highway - Miles to Biloela

Burnett Highway Biloela north and south


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Water

There is a need for investment in water infrastructure in the area with the Nathan Dam project having been

delayedforaconsiderableamountoftime.Whiletheproductionofconsiderablequantitiesofpuriedwater

will be a consequence of the development of the CSG industry there is a critical need to proceed with majorwater storages to provide water to both the mining and agricultural industries.

Housing

Dalby,Chinchilla,Miles,Wandoan,RomaandGladstoneareallsueringfromhousingshortagesthatare

becoming a critical issue threatening future development. There are widespread problems with the provision

ofsucientresidentiallandinallthecommunitiestoensurethereisanongoingavailabilityofappropriate

housing choices available for industry growth and community stability.

There is widespread community concern and frustration about the increasing level of constraint on land

availability caused by State Government policies which appear overly bureaucratic and pointless to local

communities.

Many local community leaders and senior industry executives consider the current Governments approvalsprocess for housing land development to be counter-productive and a major constraint on the successful

development of the region.

Health

Health services in the region are already under stress with widespread community dissatisfaction about the

services currently available and the degree to which services have been centralized in the major regional

hospitals of Toowoomba and Rockhampton.

Thereisacriticalshortageofdoctorsandspecialiststaacrosstheregionresultinginlongwaitingtimesand

increasing travel requirements for patients. Adequate ambulance services are also an ongoing concern with

communities feeling a disconnection from their local service providers and an uncertainty about their ability to

respond adequately.

Flood proofng existing communities

Existing communities in the region such as Roma, Chinchilla and Dalby were particularly hard hit by the

oodsinJanuary2011whilebothTheodoreandCondamineneededtobecompletelyevacuatedbecauseof

ooding.

Frustrationisgrowingaboutthelackofanydeniteplanstoundertakepermanentoodmitigationworkfor

these communities and the seemingly restrictive attitude of Government to what are locally considered to be

appropriate solutions.

An LNP Government would:

1. FormprojectspecicinterdepartmentalteamswithintheDepartmentofStateDevelopmentto

facilitate the completion of each Surat Basin project in the shortest available time frame

2. UrgentlypursueallroadfundingoptionsfortheWarregoHighwayandtheWesternFreightCorridor

as a matter of top priority

3. Focus on maximizing Federal funding for the Bruce Highway

4. Examineexistingroadfundingprioritiestoensurefocusisonmatchingdevelopingtracincreases

with priority road upgrades

5. Review the approvals procedures and identify constraints in the approvals process for all

infrastructure projects to ensure an outcomes focused process that can provide timely decision

making

6. WorkwithLocalGovernmenttoensuretheurgentreleaseofsucientlandforhousingtoenableprivate investment in the housing market to meet demand in all communities in a timely manner


9/1618 BUILDING QUEENSLANDS FUTURE TOGETHER

7. Investigate options to increase rail freight opportunities to the port of Brisbane

8. Ensure the growing demand on all Government services in the region is addressed in Departmental

planning processes (with a particular focus on Queensland Health) before gaps in service provision

threaten community stability

9. Workwithlocalpeoplewhohavelocalknowledgetodevelopoodmitigationproposalsfortheir

communities

10. Fasttrackastatutoryregionalplanincorporatinglandusecontrolstoaddresstheconictingland

use issues currently causing community disquiet in the region.

The Bowen Basin

From Pit to Port - supplying quality coal to the world

The Bowen Basin is one of the worlds great coal provinces and has made an enormous economic

contribution to the Queensland economy since the export of coal began in the mid 1960s.

Today there is an enormous potential for further growth with an almost insatiable worldwide demand for the

quality coal that has become a hall mark of Queenslands coal industry.

The Bowen Basin stretches from South of Moura and Theodore the most southerly mines to north of

Collinsville. The basin has many towns including the larger ones of Emerald, Moranbah and Biloela while

Gladstone, Rockhampton and Mackay are the regional service centres.

There are 34 operational coal mines currently extracting over 100 million tons of coal annually with many mine

expansions planned and many new mines being considered for development.

The mines are serviced by an extensive railway system to transport the coal produced for export with major

export coal ports at Gladstone Mackay and Bowen.

Roads

The Central Queensland east west road linkages are the critical road infrastructure for the Bowen Basin mining

industry while the north south roads play an important role in linking the region to the south east corner of the

State.

The critical road linkages are :

The Dawson Highway running west from Gladstone,

The Capricorn Highway running west from Rockhampton

The Peak Downs Highway running from Mackay to Clermont

The Bruce Highway

The Burnett Highway

The Leichardt Highway

These major highways form the backbone of a road network that is struggling to cope with the ongoing build

upoftracvolumes.InparticularthePeakDownsHighwaybetweenMackayandMoranbahisseenbyboth

industry and local community leaders as being a particular problem likely to restrict further growth in the

Northern part of the Bowen Basin.

Rail

The extensive rail network was developed by the Conservative Government over a thirty year period and

recently sold by the current Labor Government. It was part of a panicky asset sales programme undertaken by

thecurrentStateLaborGovernmentinafailedattempttoalleviatetheirdecliningnancialsituation.


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Housing

Housingisacriticalissuefortheregionandhasbeenidentiedasanemergingconstraintforanumberof

proposed projects. The situation in Moranbah is typical with a severe housing shortage and a lack of available

land for new housing construction. The Housing shortage and the associated lack of land for development ofnew housing developments is increasingly being recognised as a constraint on development of projects in the

Bowen basin.


1. Introduce a programme to ensure regular capital investment in the road network across the region to

ensure it can continue to produce wealth for the whole State

2. UrgentlyreviewtheroleoftheULDAtoensuretheseverehousingshortagecanbeaddressedinthe

shortest possible time

3. Identify the constraints on the Wiggins Island project and ensure this key infrastructure project is

delivered.

4. Facilitate the development of the Balaclava Port proposal

5. Fast track the construction of the Connors River Dam

6. Ensure planning for the Nathan Dam project proceeds

7. Ensure health services are able to cope with the projected development

The Galilee Basin

From Alpha to Abbott point the potential is awesome

The Galilee Basin lies to the west and North of the Bowen basin and while its coal reserves have been known

for some time, they are yet to be mined however the potential is very real for that to change rapidly in the near

future.

Therearecurrentlythreelargeprojectsindierentstagesofdevelopmentandatleasttwootherswithlonger

term plans. The most advanced project being undertaken by Hancock Coal has already completed a test mine

and extracted a bulk coal sample for extensive testing by customers in Asia.

The three large projects alone have the potential to create 15,000 new construction jobs in the building of

the new mines and the more than 400 km of rail lines that would transport the coal to new purpose built port

facilities at Abbott Point near Bowen.

Roads

The Central Queensland east west road linkages are the critical road infrastructure for the Galilee Basin mining

industry.

TheroadslinkingtheGalileeBasincoaleldstothecoastalcentresare:

The Capricorn Highway running west from Rockhampton

The Peak Downs Highway running from Mackay to Clermont

The Northern road through Collinsville to Townsville

These major highways form the backbone of a road network that is struggling to cope with the ongoing

buildupoftracvolumesfromtheexistingdevelopmentsintheBowenBasin.InparticularthePeakDowns

Highway between Mackay and Moranbah is seen by both industry and local community leaders as being a

particular problem likely to restrict further growth in the Northern part of the Bowen Basin. The Northern roadthrough Collinsville to Townsville will require considerable capital expenditure


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Housing

Housingisacriticalissuefortheregionandhasbeenidentiedasanemergingconstraintanumberof

proposed projects.

The mining projects are proposed to be primarily travel in and travel out with work forces located in regional

centres from Cairns to Brisbane so transport infrastructure that provide linkages to major regional centres will

be need to be developed.

Smaller towns such as Alpha and Collinsville although some distance from the mine projects have potential to

house workers who choose to live locally.


1. Identify the best corridor for the rail line from the Galilee basin to Abbott point and institute multiple

user requirements for all proponents

2. Provide capital investment in the road network across the region to ensure it can produce wealth for

the whole State

3. FormprojectspecicinterdepartmentalteamswithintheDepartmentofStateDevelopmentto

facilitate the completion of each Galilee Basin project in the shortest available time frame

4. Centralise and streamline the approvals process for major projects and the Abbott Point State

Development Area

5. Progress to an advanced stage the planning necessary for the support infrastructure such as roads,

health and education that will be necessary when the Galilee Basin projects proceed

6. Engagelocalcommunitiestoidentifylongtermbenetsfortheregionatanearlystagefromthe

development of these projects

7. Facilitate the development of the Abbott Point State Industrial Area to ensure it can become a centrefor heavy industry associated with the Galilee Basin

8. Progress the water for Bowen water supply scheme

The North West Minerals Province

Building on the unique strengths of the North West

The North West Minerals Province is centred around the city of Mt Isa and has been the source of mineral

wealth for Queensland for well over a hundred years but the potential for further development is very high.

A Major transport corridor forms the link to Townsville where a State Development Area provides mineral

processing opportunities and an export port for the region.

Roads

Road infrastructure is critical for the North West Minerals Province because of its geographic location in the

North West of the State.

The critical roads linking the North West Minerals Province to the coastal centres are :

The Flinders Highway running

west from Townsville

The Landsborough Highway running south through Longreach to Brisbane

Bruce Highway


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building queensland's future together - part 2

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