PETER ,PAUL AND ANNA , THE NEW COAL FOLK SINGERS

Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:36 pm    Post subject: Nod for new CQ coal terminal
Nod for new CQ coal terminalGabrielle Dunlevy April 21, 2008 http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23574040-3102,00.html   Quote: ONE of Australia’s largest coal terminals has been approved for central Queensland.Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has signed off on the environmental impact study for Wiggins Island Coal Terminal, an expansion of Gladstone port’s coal terminal. It follows the Queensland government’s approval earlier this year. Premier Anna Bligh said the terminal would open in 2012-13, employing 500 people in construction and 130 in operation. Ms Bligh said the first $1.3 billion stage of the expansion would boost Gladstone’s coal exports by a third, or 25 million tonnes, and generate up to $1.8 billion annually. “When I was in India and China during my recent overseas trade mission, one of the constant recurring themes was the rapidly escalating demand out of those two growing economies for Queensland coal,” Ms Bligh told reporters in Brisbane today. “Critical to that is getting the coal out of the ports.” Infrastructure Minister Paul Lucas said the expansion would take Gladstone’s port to its limit, handling 75 million tonnes of coal each year. “I think it’s unlikely that there will be further coal port development there at Gladstone,” he said. A $500 million rail upgrade - the Moura Link-Aldoga Rail Project - will be carried out to take coal to the new terminal. SMART STATE INVESTMENT Labor coffers boosted by developer cash Robert MacDonald April 21, 2008 http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23569829-3102,00.html   Quote: PROPERTY developers and construction companies have provided the vast bulk of the more than $4.3 million in non-union donations to the Queensland Labor Party in the past five years.Between June 2002 and June last year, they collectively boosted Labor Party coffers by about $3.7 million – or about 85 per cent of all non-union funds raised – through direct donations and attendance at fundraising events. Editorial: Donations should be clear The issue of private sector donations to political parties resurfaced last week, with Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg describing as “questionable but not illegal” the timing of donations made by construction firm Multiplex while the State Government was considering proposals for the Gallery of Modern Art and Brisbane’s North Bank project. However new Labor state secretary Anthony Chisholm said it was nonsense to suggest that private sector donations were influencing government decisions. He said the fact that Multiplex missed out on the GoMA contract proved his point. The company has been appointed preferred developer of the controversial North Bank project but is still in contract negotiations with the Government. Mr Chisholm said most companies made donations to both sides of politics “because they understand how expensive it is to run election campaigns these days and they remain supportive of the democratic process”. Brisbane developer Mark Stockwell, who contributed nearly $25,000 to the Queensland Labor Party last year, said his company contributed equally to the Liberal Party. “We play it straight down the line. Business needs a strong and robust government and opposition,” Mr Stockwell said. Mr Stockwell said that “from a property development point of view”, making donations to politicians was “probably detrimental to outcomes”. “My experience is it doesn’t help you,” he said. “A politician who you’ve supported will actually go out of his way not to give you something because they’re worried about what the The Courier-Mail says about them being supported by someone.”