Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

The Queensland Magistrates Court decision, on Tuesday April 8, to put a halt to mining by GVK Hancock in the Galilee Basin is a disaster to our economy.

Almost all of our mining reserves (to the shame of successive Federal Governments) are now foreign owned; therefor they must depend upon foreign capital for their development.

Legal decisions mostly reflect the will of the people.

The ALP and now LNP State Governments have treated the land holders and farmers like dirt.

They have removed all of their rights, drilling holes and draining the Great Artesian aquifer. They’ve taken prime agricultural land and given a relative pittance in compensation.

When certain mining companies talk about Australians being lazy and they should be prepared to work for $320 a week and when they say they are going to fly all of the workforce in from overseas under section 457 visas, Australians will react with anger. This decision is Australians serving notice that they will no longer be treated with contempt.

Mr Katter said that this, along with the ALP LNP Governments refusal to build a multi user Government owned Railway line – provides a clear line in the sand, a line delineating the towering incompetence of Government in Queensland over the last 10 years.

If the ALP and LNP forget their obsessive free market zealotry and had built the Galilee Basin railway line - stopped foreign FIFO - given the land holders a fair go - taken 2% of the coal to provide cheap domestic electricity production - stopped the foreign takeover of our great mining wealth, then we would now be mining the Galilee Basin creating 50,000 jobs earning Qld $4000m a year in payroll tax, mining royalties and rail profits.

The ALP and LNP State Governments have sent the mining industry off to Magnetic Island in a barbwire canoe.

Sincerely yours,
Hon Bob Katter MP, Federal Member for Kennedy