Major projects presented with focus on opportunity

Times are tough for the resource industry but projects in the Galilee Basin and the resulting expansion of Abbot Point will go ahead.

This was the resolute cry from speakers at last Thursday’s Whitsundays Major Projects Summit, hosted by Whitsundays Marketing and Development Limited in Bowen.

The summit, which was opened in person by Whitsunday Mayor Jennifer Whitney, Mackay MP Julieanne Gilbert and via a video presentation by Minister for State Development, Natural Resources and Mines, Anthony Lynham, gave attendees a chance to hear directly from proponents about how the region’s various major projects were progressing.

Speakers representing Adani, Waratah Coal, Q Coal, GVK Hancock and the Minerals Council of Australia, talked about projects such as the Carmichael Mine and rail lines to Abbot Point, as well as the broader challenges facing the resource industry at present.

There were also opportunities to hear about infrastructure, with Whitsunday Regional Council’s CEO Scott Waters presenting on the current drive to grow the airport and North Queensland Bulk Ports CEO, Steve Lewis, and Michael Allan, from the department of State Development, talking about Abbot Point.

WMDL’s general manager of Operations and Economic Development, Denise Kreymborg, said she was pleased to be able to give local businesses and supply chains the chance to hear that things were “still happening” and the opportunity to network and leverage from these projects.