The weekend State Election result is the best possible outcome for the Queensland mining industry, QCoal and the Byerwen mine in particular, Managing Director Christopher Wallin said today.
“A comprehensive win by the LNP means a return to a Queensland Government which actually values coal mining and understands the importance of the hundreds of thousands of people across the State who rely on the mining industry,” Mr Wallin said.
The rejection of the State Labor Government by regional Queensland where it may only hold three seats north of Caboolture after the election, highlights how much it has forsaken when chasing the green votes in central Brisbane.
“I am particularly proud of the role QCoal played in directly impacting the State Election through our tellthemwheretogo.com.au campaign which we launched in April across regional Queensland.
“The results from Saturday night were unequivocal. The LNP won every seat our campaign focused upon, except one,” Mr Wallin said.
The campaign by QCoal and its partners in Energy Resources Queensland, including McMahons, JFE and MPK, focused on regional Queensland seats where mine workers and their families live.
These included the seat of Burdekin, home to both Northern Hub and Byerwen, but also Cairns, Mulgrave, Barron River, Townsville, Mundingburra and Thuringowa, Mackay, Keppel, Rockhampton, Mirani, Maryborough, and the Sunshine Coast seats of Caloundra and Nicklin. On current counting the Labor Party has lost every one of those seats, except Cairns.
The campaign’s focus, Glenden, even voted in favour of the LNP. Only 16 of the town and surrounding community’s 47 voters supported Labor candidate and former Isaac Regional Council Mayor Anne Baker.
The campaign was born after the previous State Labor Government introduced secret legislation attached to a Child Protection Bill to force Byerwen to close its mining camp and move its 800 strong workforce to Glenden, 40 minutes by bus from the mine.
Member for Burdekin and LNP resources spokesperson Dale Last won the seat with a thumping majority. Mr Last visited Byerwen recently and met with workers and management and committed to working with QCoal and the residents of Glenden to achieve a fair outcome for the future.
“While QCoal expects to maintain support for Glenden in the future, giving workers the choice of where they live and maintaining the excellent Byerwen camp are fundamental to the future of the mine,” Mr Wallin said.
“There are no guarantees in politics, but I am confident that we can work with the LNP State Government to ensure the Byerwen workforce no longer faces the unfair discrimination it received under Labor, and once again give our workers a choice of where they live.”