|
MACKAY: |
Martin Ferguson is the federal Minister for Resources, Energy and Tourism. He's with me now, good morning. |
|
FERGUSON: |
Good morning. |
|
MACKAY: |
Thanks for your time this morning. So what do you think this will mean for Queensland and more generally for our region in and around Gladstone? |
|
FERGUSON: |
It's going to be an intensive period of job activity on the ground, and I think not just for existing workers but for young people who want a career in an industry of the future. LNG is a clean transition fuel. It's got great export opportunities and I see people now pursuing a career doing apprenticeships, going to universities and going back to the region from which they came to actually pursue a career and bring up their families. |
|
MACKAY: |
It is going to mean immense pressure, especially on the city of Gladstone. How will the Federal Government be helping with infrastructure? |
|
FERGUSON: |
Obviously from the Australian Government's point of view we have worked in partnership with the state government over a long period and we'll continue to do so, but a lot of this activity is also going to be in the regional communities beyond Gladstone. It's over a 540km underground pipeline - that's labour intensive. It's going to create local multiplier employment opportunities for small business, not just big business. And I think we are going to see a spread of economic activities across the whole region. |
|
MACKAY: |
And things like hospitals, schools will keep up with it? |
|
FERGUSON: |
Obviously that's an issue that's going to be pursued by the Queensland Government, because they want to maintain a strong population growth in these regional communities, not just the capital cities, and we have very much resourced state governments in recent years on the issues of education and health and it's the responsibility of the state government to deliver on the ground. |
|
MACKAY: |
Now Drew Hutton from Friends of the Earth recently said that this is a gold rush mentality at the moment. All of the plans for LNG and the environmental cost is too great. What assurances do you give everyone on that front? |
|
FERGUSON: |
Well there's a separate environmental process. For this project alone there are 1500 environmental requirements. But you've got to understand that the Drew Huttons of this world have always opposed development. This is about jobs on the ground. This is going to see economic activities in regional communities that have struggled for a long time. It's going to keep families in local communities.
And I was out at Biloela, not that long ago, where I saw a new apprenticeship centre close to completion, funded by the Commonwealth Government, we'll now fund the fit out. That means local kids; young men and women will do their apprenticeships locally and work locally. Detractors like Drew Hutton will always attack investment in Australia. But I always find they're always the ones who want to spend the most when it comes to the economic dividend that Australia earns from industries such as this. |
|
MACKAY: |
And into the future, taking a longer perspective, how many LNG projects do you see coming to this part of the world? |
|
FERGUSON: |
Look, there are a range of projects at the moment. The Santos project has also got the environmental approvals, there's Shell, there's ConocoPhillips, there's Origin, but I also see a consolidation of projects that will be good for the economies of the projects but also reduces the environmental footprint. But one way or another we've now got a $15 billion US investment. That's jobs on the ground as of today, other projects will follow. This is good for the local regional communities, it's good for Queensland and it's good for Australia. |
|
MACKAY: |
Martin Ferguson, thank you for your time this morning. Federal Minister for Resources and Energy. |