The Queensland resources sector’s peak industry body has welcomed the state government’s commitment to improving mining infrastructure but has also urged it to take a more progressive role in the future.
InvestorTV spoke to Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche about the importance of capitalising on the current booming demand for the state’s minerals.
“We have a lot of advantages in Queensland with the quality of our resources but it needs government decisions that put us on the front foot, make sure we’re not playing catch-up with infrastructure, skills and the other important inputs to take advantage of the super-cycle,” Mr Roche says.
“I think the government is on a journey at the moment. They’re on a journey from a very narrowly defined view of what is fiscally responsible and that has been translated to ‘take no commercial risk’.
“What we’re looking for from government is the traditional role that governments have played in this state over many decades, of making investment decisions that lead the market. As Wal King, the head of Leighton’s said the other day, ‘Australia has a very bad history of infrastructure investment in arrears’.
“Certainly the government has made some pretty important decisions and edging to wards the go-ahead for some major projects – the Abbott Point Coal Terminal expansion, the Northern Missing Link (coal rail line) are two important ones. We’ve now had the Federal Government OK on the environmental aspects of the Wiggins Island Coal Terminal.”
While infrastructure improvements are poised to come on line in central Queensland’s resource-producing areas, the situation faced by producers in the resource-rich northwest presents significant concerns.
“The north west (of Queensland) has delivered $85 billion worth of production in its life, going back to last century, but the prospects are just enormous there,” Says Mr Roche.
“We’re seeing copper prices move up from $US7000 a tonne to $US10,000 per tonne and that’s a great opportunity to take advantage of the copper-rich province there as well as the silver, lead, the zinc.
“So many of the precious and base metals are there. We have world-class mines. We need a strong investment in the discovery process, that is in exploration, and for these projects to really hum they need competitively priced energy and they need a rail transport corridor that is competitive with road.
“We have the tragic situation at the moment in the north west where companies are tossing up whether or not to put their product on road versus rail and this is over a thousand kilometre journey.
“The north west is a good example of where in our budget submission, we were asking the government to think a bit differently. We’re saying to them ‘there are many areas of infrastructure where the private sector is well placed to pick up the slack and you can pull back.’
“There’s an opportunity for government to step in and take a lead to make sure the energy and transport infrastructure is there to take advantage of the super-cycle in the north west.”
“We have a lot of advantages in Queensland with the quality of our resources but it needs government decisions that put us on the front foot, make sure we’re not playing catch-up with infrastructure, skills and the other important inputs to take advantage of the super-cycle,” Mr Roche says.
“I think the government is on a journey at the moment. They’re on a journey from a very narrowly defined view of what is fiscally responsible and that has been translated to ‘take no commercial risk’.
“What we’re looking for from government is the traditional role that governments have played in this state over many decades, of making investment decisions that lead the market. As Wal King, the head of Leighton’s said the other day, ‘Australia has a very bad history of infrastructure investment in arrears’.
“Certainly the government has made some pretty important decisions and edging to wards the go-ahead for some major projects – the Abbott Point Coal Terminal expansion, the Northern Missing Link (coal rail line) are two important ones. We’ve now had the Federal Government OK on the environmental aspects of the Wiggins Island Coal Terminal.”
While infrastructure improvements are poised to come on line in central Queensland’s resource-producing areas, the situation faced by producers in the resource-rich northwest presents significant concerns.
“The north west (of Queensland) has delivered $85 billion worth of production in its life, going back to last century, but the prospects are just enormous there,” Says Mr Roche.
“We’re seeing copper prices move up from $US7000 a tonne to $US10,000 per tonne and that’s a great opportunity to take advantage of the copper-rich province there as well as the silver, lead, the zinc.
“So many of the precious and base metals are there. We have world-class mines. We need a strong investment in the discovery process, that is in exploration, and for these projects to really hum they need competitively priced energy and they need a rail transport corridor that is competitive with road.
“We have the tragic situation at the moment in the north west where companies are tossing up whether or not to put their product on road versus rail and this is over a thousand kilometre journey.
“The north west is a good example of where in our budget submission, we were asking the government to think a bit differently. We’re saying to them ‘there are many areas of infrastructure where the private sector is well placed to pick up the slack and you can pull back.’
“There’s an opportunity for government to step in and take a lead to make sure the energy and transport infrastructure is there to take advantage of the super-cycle in the north west.”
