QRC: GBRMPA to Make Abbott Decision Based on Facts (Australia)

Queensland’s peak resources sector body said it is confident the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) will make its decision on a dredging permit for the proposed Abbot Point port expansion based on facts and science, rather than ‘slacktivist’ campaigns using social media.

Chief Executive of the Queensland Resources Council Michael Roche says the digital bombardment of the independent decision-maker on the granting of the permit is a perfect example of how anti-coal and anti-gas activists are making full use of social media to create the impression of a groundswell of opposition to these bedrocks of the Queensland economy.

‘We are confident that the science that shows that more than 30 years of port development has not been harmful to the Great Barrier Reef will prevail,’ said Mr Roche.

As reported in the latest QRC State of the Sector Report released today, in the face of this anti-resources digital storm, the Queensland resources sector continues to employ record numbers of Queenslanders, with direct resource sector employment hitting 80,000 in the December quarter, with another 400,000 jobs created throughout the rest of the Queensland economy on the back of the record $38 billion of resource sector expenditure in Queensland on wages and purchases of goods and services.

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Press Release, January 22, 2014