James Bidgood (Dawson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the good news today of the announcement by the Prime Minister of Australia and the Vice President of China of the signing of a cooperation agreement for the China First coal development between Resourcehouse Ltd, Export-Import Bank of China, Metallurgical Corporation of China and China Power Holdings. This will establish an US$8 billion China First coal project involving the construction of a mine, a 476 kilometre railway to the port of Abbot Point near Bowen in my constituency of Dawson and the construction of a coal loading terminal. The project is expected to result in approximately A$4 billion in exports every single year for 25 years.

This is an example of growth in the coal industry. I fully support the growth of the coal industry in Queensland. I always have. I always will—unlike the LNP who run a negative fear campaign. This is a good news day for the people of Dawson and for the Australian mining services industry. This is all about jobs, jobs, jobs for the Australian people and the Australian services industry and I wholeheartedly welcome this Chinese investment. I congratulate the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, in helping get this deal through. This is a fantastic achievement and is highly commendable. I would also like to say that the Australian Conservation Foundation and the ACTU have estimated that 770,000 extra jobs will be created by 2030—(Time expired)

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