The road to Adani

Published on 05 October 2017

Rockhampton Region Mayor Margaret Strelow today welcomed Adani’s announcement that Rockhampton had been selected as a FIFO Hub and construction recruitment centre after months of ongoing negotiations and meetings with the company.

“We’ve been updating the community through the media throughout this process as well as engaging with businesses and workers through our Gear Up Rocky initiative, but what we haven’t shown is all the painstaking hours of behind the scenes meetings, phone calls and late-night emails it’s taken to get us here,” Mayor Strelow said.

“This project is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Rockhampton and we have made it our top priority. That has been our attitude since day one when the mine secured preliminary State Government approvals in May 2014.

“The competition was fierce and we did an exceedingly professional job. We met timeframes and exceeded them and we proved that we could meet Adani's high standards and quick turnaround times which, coupled with our strong financial position and engagement with traditional owners, put us in the position we find ourselves today. 

“Discussions have led to it being a joint arrangement between Rockhampton and Townsville – with both regions to share the costs of the construction of the Carmichael Airport for exchange of a shared construction and operational workforce.

“This deal secures a third of the construction jobs to be based in Rockhampton – more than 1,100 jobs – as well as another 625 ongoing jobs once the mine is operational.

“To say that this is a major win for Rockhampton and Regional Queensland almost seems an understatement.  It has all been worth it.

“We persevered and showed our strong commitment at every step to Adani, and both the State and Federal Governments. Now the hard work begins to realise those economic benefits to set our region up for future economic prosperity,” Mayor Strelow said.