The Queensland Government has announced the appointment of mining industry veteran Barry Golding as a facilitator to test coal companies’ appetite to proceed with the new coal handing facilities at the Port of Abbot Point.

 

Mr Golding will meet with local companies to discuss their immediate and longer term plans and port capacity requirements to gauge overall demand for the new facilities.

 

After consultation with industry, Mr Golding will report to the Government later in the year on options about how to proceed with the expansion at Abbot Point.

 

The appointment of Mr Golding comes after the newly elected Newman Government scrapped previous plans for the construction of a nine coal terminal and 12-berth Multi-Cargo Facility.

 

The Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, Jeff Seeney, said the Government considered the proposals unviable and unworkable.

 

“The significant scale, complexity and potential impacts of the proposed development and infrastructure were extensive and given current information it would have been many years before the planned capacity would be realistically warranted,” Mr Seeney said.

 

“For this reason the State Government last May scrapped any further support for the proposed development of Terminals 4 to 9 and the Multi Cargo Facility.

 

“The focus now will shift to the incremental expansion of port capacity to meet any future demand and Government will be indicating its preference for multi-user terminals as a way to meet short to medium term development.