Acland reopens: coal mine's next stage approved after 15-year battle

Yesterday, the chief executive of the department administered by Water Minister Glenn Butcher granted owner New Hope Group the final piece of the puzzle - an associated water licence.

The company has been pushing to mine up to 7.5 million tonnes a year for another 12 years, but the project has been halted by legal challenges.

Mining stopped in November 2021 when coal reserves were exhausted.

New Hope says local workers, contractors and businesses will see a $1 billion benefit over the life of the project, with 600 jobs created at the peak of construction and 400 jobs at the mine's operational peak.

New Hope Group CEO Rob Bishop said the announcement was historic.

"The Queensland government's decision to approve New Acland stage three is a defining moment and is being celebrated by our workforce, their families, local farmers, landholders, business leaders and the local community," Mr Bishop said.

Asked about the project at a press conference on Friday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was "very pleased" to see all of the approvals had been given.

"The project means a lot of jobs to the Toowoomba economy, and as my government said, we would await the outcome of the court cases," Ms Palaszczuk said.

New Acland Mine general manager Dave O'Dwyer said he received the news on Thursday afternoon and was quick to share it with the team.

"I received a phone call yesterday afternoon at about 1.30 from one of our employees down in our head office ... and he had the good news for me ... We've got about 20 people still here on site, so I called them together, gave them the good news, and everyone was just really, really excited," Mr O'Dwyer said.

The next step is employing more staff and working through the environmental authority in their water licence.

There have been more than 800 expressions of interest, with almost 200 coming from ex-employees.

Mr O'Dwyer said the aim was to start digging by Christmas or early 2023.

"Whether we get it done this year or early next year, we're just really, really excited to be getting back into it," he said.

Peter Kuhl's family has been farming in the area since about 1965 - 37 years before the mine started operations in 2002.

Their land, which they use for growing grain and cattle fattening and backgrounding into feedlots, is on the northern side of the mine, with only the highway separating them.

He had some initial problems with the mine, but since they were fixed, he doesn't have a problem co-existing.

"In the early days when rules were a bit lax, we did have a noise and dust issue, but that's been taken care of," Mr Kuhl said.

When they started mining, he treated them the same as if they were another primary producer.

"You've got to work with your neighbours. It's no use putting up a barrier. I prefer to work with them than try to fight them.

"I'd rather see it as agricultural land rather than a mine, but it's already started, so I'm just happy to see it get to its completion and just finish up properly, rather than halfway through and then just abandoned."

Oakey Coal Action Alliance secretary Paul King said they would "interrogate" the lawfulness of the associated water licence and were determined to maintain their opposition to the coal expansion.

"Extracting coal from beneath the ground drains water relied on by farmers in the surrounding district, and we believe that fact needs to be heard and considered by a court," Mr King said.

However, Mr Kuhl said he had not experienced problems with water on their property.

"We've had no issues with water. We're actually in the process of buying more country beside us now. I've got faith in what's happening in the local area, so I don't have a problem with it continuing."

Shadow Resources Minister Pat Weir said it was good to have the final approval granted and get workers back on site.

"It's been a long, drawn out process. We're finally here and now I just look forward to it starting and filling that carpark back up," Mr Weir said.

Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise CEO Ali Davenport said the business community was behind New Acland.

"In terms of what the business community is thinking and feeling, they're really supportive of this project," Ms Davenport said.

"There's a lot of members of TSBE and businesses in our community that really want to work on this project from a construction perspective."

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the granting of an associated water licence was a triumph of process over politics.

"This project is one of the most heavily scrutinised and assessed resources projects in Queensland history and we congratulate New Hope Group on this long overdue news," he said.

Mr Macfarlane said the world needed Queensland's energy commodities now more than ever.

"Queensland's coal and LNG exports have a crucial role to play as nations work towards achieving their net zero emissions goals," he said.

"Countries all around the world need time to transition and implement new technologies - including renewables and carbon capture and storage ..."

The granting of the water licence follows the Resources Minister's approval of mining leases in August, the Department of Environment and Science issuing an environmental authority in June, and the Co-ordinator-General releasing a report in May implementing the Land Court's recommendations with conditions.

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