Press release – 26 May, 2017Saturday May 27, 2017: Today’s announcement by the Queensland government rules out any money from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), as currently legislated, being used in the proposed Adani Carmichael mega-mine.In a release today the Queensland state government announced that the proposed mine, in the Galilee Basin, would be required to pay all royalties and that “any NAIF funding needs to be between the Federal Government and Adani”.
“This announcement means that as things currently exist NAIF money cannot be given to Adani’s Carmichael mine,” Greenpeace Climate and Energy Campaigner, Nikola Casule, said.
“The NAIF’s own Explanatory Memorandum decrees that states States need to provide agreement to the assistance.
“Today’s announcement from the Palaszczuk government is a refusal to provide that agreement and means any NAIF money cannot be used.”
Adani have applied for a loan from the NAIF to fund a rail line between their proposed Carmichael mine and the Abbot Point coal port.
“While we welcome this announcement, the Queensland government’s decision to grant a five year ‘royalty holiday’ for all projects in the Galilee, Surat, and North West basins is a contradiction and needs to be reconsidered,” Casule said.
“It is now up to the Turnbull government to rule out any public funds being granted to this environmentally destructive and economically disastrous project once and for all.”
The new royalties scheme allows coal and gas projects to defer a proportion of their royalty payments to the state government until the fifth year of operation.
For interviews contact:
Simon Black
Greenpeace Senior Media Campaigner
0418 219 086 /