Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the new Assistant Minister for Resources, it was fantastic to visit Moranbah earlier this month alongside mayor Kelly Vea Vea and the Queensland shadow minister for resources, Linus Power. Moranbah is a proud mining community in the heart of Queensland's Bowen Basin, renowned worldwide for its rich deposits of premium metallurgical coal.

As a Queenslander, I'm proud to say that roughly 40 per cent of global steelmaking coal exports comes from the great state of Queensland. It's not hard to see why. When I toured the region, I visited coalmines at BMA Broadmeadow, Pembroke Olive Downs and Vitrinite's Vulcan facility. The enthusiasm and passion from the workers, the industry and the community were evident to see across the different sites I was able to visit. Intergenerational coalmining families are proud of the work they do and their contributions to the local economy and the Australian economy as well.

At the BMA Broadmeadow mine, I had the privilege of going underground and touring their longwall mine. It was incredible to see the scale of the machinery involved to develop longwall tunnels for shearing and transporting of coal for processing. I especially thank the team and workers for providing us with the access to see this firsthand. The skill and expertise of the workforce was evident, as were the stringent safety requirements.

At Pembroke Olive Downs mine, it was great to see one of the newest metallurgical coalmines in the region, and the work they have put into environmental leadership speaks volumes for what the industry can achieve—as well as the biodiversity land offset, co-located at the mine site campus. Vitrinite are also using some new techniques to ensure they are able to mine coal seams that were previously untouchable.

Steel is the backbone of renewable infrastructure, and metallurgical coal has a strong future in Queensland for its export potential.