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November 20, 2014
A proposal to develop a multi-million dollar dairy project based on farms in the South Burnett was discussed in a Senate Estimates hearing today.
This follows confirmation that Hope Dairies, which is controlled by Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, has already begun purchasing farms in the South Burnett area.
Representatives from the company briefed South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann and Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington separately about the $500 million project yesterday.
Hope Dairies aims to supply up to 30,000 tonnes of infant formula a year to China.
Milk would be raised from farms in the South Burnett and then shipped to a specialist drying plant which would be built in the Mary Valley.
However, the ABC reported this afternoon that Liberal Senator Richard Colbeck, from Tasmania, told a Senate Estimates hearing today the deal may have to be scrutinised.
China CAMC Engineering Co, a subsidiary of a Chinese Government-owned China National Machinery Industry Corporation, is a minority shareholder in Hope Dairies.
“I’m not aware of the complete details and as the (Department of Agriculture) Secretary has said, any investment that might eventuate from the proposal would be worked through with the Foreign Investment Review Board,” Senator Colbeck told the Estimates hearing.
Gina Rinehart and representatives from Hope Dairies signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the State Government on Saturday.
The company estimates 350 jobs would be created during the construction phase of the project, and 480 would be created during the operational phase, which is expected to begin in the second half of 2016.
Three hundred of those jobs have been forecast to be in the South Burnett, where Hope Dairies aims to create a 16,000-strong dairy herd.
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