Adani is another step closer to being granted a lease for its $16.5 billion Carmichael coal mine in Queensland’s Galilee basin after reaching a compensation agreement with the last remaining landholder at the proposed site.
However, Queensland’s State Development Minister Anthony Lynham said he would take his time considering the lease even though Adani had ticked off all the boxes required to receive one. “I intend to take my time to scrutinise these documents very, very thoroughly indeed,” he said.
The Minister’s statement came just a day after State Parliament had agreed to a motion that all State Government approvals be provided to help create jobs. It brought increased pressure from the State Opposition to grant the lease, particularly given the final landholder agreement was the hurdle Adani needed to clear beforehand.
The Minister said he didn’t want to repeat the mistakes of federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, who had to twice grant environmental approval for the project.
The Federal Court last year set the first approval aside because Greg Hunt failed to take into account advice on the threatened yakka skink and the ornamental snake.
Anthony Lynham said he would only approve the lease when he was sure it had undergone appropriate scrutiny so it was secure.
“(That’s) so Adani can progress with confidence to develop the Galilee basin to bring prosperity to central Queensland, prosperity to Queensland, jobs now and jobs for the future,” he said.