{"id":162952,"date":"2016-11-10T16:58:14","date_gmt":"2016-11-10T06:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=162952"},"modified":"2020-10-01T12:36:30","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T02:36:30","slug":"water-decision-to-cost-700-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/11\/10\/water-decision-to-cost-700-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"Water Decision &#8216;To Cost 700 Jobs&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_162291\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-162291\" style=\"width: 740px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/20161103acland.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-162291\" title=\"20161103 Acland protest\" src=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/20161103acland.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/20161103acland.jpg 620w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/20161103acland-300x186.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-162291\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington addressing a protest by Acland mine workers last week (Photo: Nanango Electorate Office)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"240\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" align=\"right\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<table class=\"box1\" width=\"220\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" align=\"right\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong style=\"font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 26px;\">Farmers Welcome New Water Laws\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Queensland Farmers\u2019 Federation has welcomed the State Government\u2019s new laws, saying they strengthen groundwater protection and farmers&#8217; rights to expert advice.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The QFF said the legislation addressed &#8220;deficiencies&#8221; in the existing laws to better manage the environmental impacts of underground water extraction by the resources industry and to protect the interests of farmers whose groundwater could be impacted by resource industry activities.<\/p>\n<p>QFF President Stuart Armitage said he supported the move to strengthen farmers&#8217; rights by improving the existing \u2018make good\u2019 obligations under the underground water framework.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe new laws ensure landholders are able to negotiate on an even playing field and ensure that they are fairly compensated for impacts on the water resources they rely on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The provisions seek to ensure that bore owners:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Have access to the professional hydro-geological advice, covering reasonable costs for the purposes of negotiating a make-good agreement;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The removal of financial barriers to bore owners who take advantage of the alternative dispute resolution process;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The provision of a cooling-off period to ensure that landholders can reflect with a cool head and ensure that they are not hurried into inappropriate make-good agreements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cQFF welcomes that &#8216;future&#8217; mining projects will have the environmental impacts of their groundwater take initially assessed under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 as part their environmental authority application,&#8221; Mr Armitage said.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>November 10, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Deputy Opposition Leader and Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has condemned &#8220;a dirty deal with the crossbench&#8221; which she says could wipe out almost 700 jobs at Acland Coal Mine.<\/p>\n<p>She said Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk must explain why the livelihoods of Acland workers aren&#8217;t worth saving.<\/p>\n<p>In the early hours of Thursday morning in State Parliament, the ALP &#8211; with the support of Katter\u2019s Australia Party and Independent MPs &#8211; passed groundwater legislation that will affect all mines currently under development in Queensland.<\/p>\n<p>Mines that will have an impact on groundwater will be required to obtain an \u201cassociated water licence\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A last-minute amendment granted an exemption to Adani&#8217;s controversial Carmichael Mine in the\u00a0Galilee\u00a0Basin, but did not cover New Hope&#8217;s Stage III expansion at Acland.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Environment Minister Dr Steven Miles said the State Government was fulfilling its election commitment to reverse Newman Government laws which had sought to deregulate the mining industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cQueensland\u2019s environment has been under threat from a ticking time-bomb; reckless laws passed by the LNP which were left waiting to commence automatically on December 6,\u201d Dr Miles said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter lengthy debate, the threat to the environment and rural communities created by those laws has been defused.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dr Miles said the Bill also provided stronger rights for farmers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis will be achieved by improving the existing \u2018make good\u2019 obligations under the underground water management framework in the Water Act 2000,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen they become law, the amendments we passed will ensure landholders are in a stronger negotiating position and are fairly compensated for impacts on their infrastructure and the water resources they rely on.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>However, Mrs Frecklington said she had already received calls from Acland workers and their families devastated by Thursday morning\u2019s events and the &#8220;callous disregard&#8221; shown by the Premier.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn one fell swoop, Labor has plunged the future of local families into uncertainty,\u201d Ms Frecklington said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnnastacia Palaszczuk needs to explain to the employees of the Acland mine why their livelihoods weren\u2019t worth saving from her job-destroying legislation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do not at all begrudge communities in Central and North Queensland for the fact that Labor has finally seen fit to excuse the Adani mine from unnecessary extra water approvals, but why didn\u2019t she do the same for the Acland mine?<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWithout a timely approval for the Acland expansion, the project will literally run out of coal, leaving nothing to mine and further job losses.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnnastacia Palaszczuk promised Queenslanders she would create jobs and yet has sacrificed jobs to save her own.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet me be clear, the LNP fully supported the make-good provisions in this legislation to protect farmers\u2019 groundwater, but we fought hard against the unfair provisions that would force mining projects that had already received environmental approval from both State and Federal Governments into another lengthy approval and objection process.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_35620\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35620\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/paul-antonio-200.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-35620 \" title=\"Paul Antonio\" src=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/paul-antonio-200.jpg\" alt=\"Paul Antonio\" width=\"200\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/paul-antonio-200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/paul-antonio-200-171x300.jpg 171w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-35620\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Toowoomba mayor Paul Antonio said he feared for the future of the Acland mine workers and the flow-on effects to the Oakey area.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile this is a State issue, I am particularly worried about the disruption that this legislative change will cause the workers employed at the New Acland mine,\u201d Mayor Antonio said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis 11th hour change to the mine\u2019s expansion application, which has been in train for around seven years, creates an unnecessary hurdle for the mine owners, their 275 staff and the 500 contractors who rely on the mine for their livelihoods.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe law change creates more uncertainty not only for the Acland workforce, but also the businesses that benefit from the current operations and those planning to cater for the expansion of the site.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe past year has been a difficult time for Oakey and surrounding areas and I view this latest decision as another cruel blow to the immediate Oakey area at a time when these people need the support of their government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe extra time that would be needed to apply for a water licence compounds the uncertainty for everyone concerned.&#8221;<br \/>\n<strong>Related articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/11\/mayor-calls-for-acland-expansion\/\">Mayor Calls For Acland Expansion<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/11\/mp-rejects-mine-hypocrisy\/\">MP Rejects Mine \u2018Hypocrisy\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Deputy Opposition Leader and Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has condemned &#8220;a dirty deal with the crossbench&#8221; which she says could wipe out almost 700 jobs at Acland  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":162291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.11 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Water Decision &#039;To Cost 700 Jobs&#039; - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has condemned &quot;a dirty deal with the crossbench&quot; which she says could wipe out almost 700 jobs at Acland Coal Mine.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/11\/10\/water-decision-to-cost-700-jobs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Water Decision &#039;To Cost 700 Jobs&#039; - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has condemned &quot;a dirty deal with the crossbench&quot; which she says could wipe out almost 700 jobs at Acland Coal Mine.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/11\/10\/water-decision-to-cost-700-jobs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-10T06:58:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-01T02:36:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/20161103acland.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"385\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/11\/10\/water-decision-to-cost-700-jobs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/11\/10\/water-decision-to-cost-700-jobs\/\",\"name\":\"Water Decision 'To Cost 700 Jobs' - southburnett.com.au\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-10T06:58:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-01T02:36:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae\"},\"description\":\"Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has condemned \\\"a dirty deal with the crossbench\\\" which she says could wipe out almost 700 jobs at Acland Coal Mine.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/11\/10\/water-decision-to-cost-700-jobs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/\",\"name\":\"southburnett.com.au\",\"description\":\"Kingaroy and South Burnett News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae\",\"name\":\"Anne Miller\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/author\/anne-miller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Water Decision 'To Cost 700 Jobs' - southburnett.com.au","description":"Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has condemned \"a dirty deal with the crossbench\" which she says could wipe out almost 700 jobs at Acland Coal Mine.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/11\/10\/water-decision-to-cost-700-jobs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Water Decision 'To Cost 700 Jobs' - southburnett.com.au","og_description":"Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has condemned \"a dirty deal with the crossbench\" which she says could wipe out almost 700 jobs at Acland Coal Mine.","og_url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/11\/10\/water-decision-to-cost-700-jobs\/","og_site_name":"southburnett.com.au","article_published_time":"2016-11-10T06:58:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-01T02:36:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"620","height":"385","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/20161103acland.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anne Miller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anne Miller","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/11\/10\/water-decision-to-cost-700-jobs\/","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/11\/10\/water-decision-to-cost-700-jobs\/","name":"Water Decision 'To Cost 700 Jobs' - southburnett.com.au","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-11-10T06:58:14+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-01T02:36:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae"},"description":"Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has condemned \"a dirty deal with the crossbench\" which she says could wipe out almost 700 jobs at Acland Coal Mine.","inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/11\/10\/water-decision-to-cost-700-jobs\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/","name":"southburnett.com.au","description":"Kingaroy and South Burnett News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/#\/schema\/person\/d43a5027bdddc95f54e9c6274d8a57ae","name":"Anne Miller","url":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/author\/anne-miller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162952"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162952"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279211,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162952\/revisions\/279211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}