Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, upon notice, on 29 March 2012:

With reference to section 136 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act1999,requiring that the Minister consider economic and social matters as part of the EPBC approval process, and the proposed Connors River Dam project (EPBC 2008/4429):

(1)   Has the department undertaken or sourced externally any analysis of the social and economic impacts of this project.

(2)   Has the analysis considered the social and/or economic impacts of the project's significant downstream effects, given that the proposed dam would further enable numerous resource projects.

(3)   Can details be provided of any internal or outsourced analysis of the potential positive and negative impacts of the project, including downstream effects, on the local, regional and national economy and employment, including impacts on:

  (a)   local and regional jobs within the mining, manufacturing, agriculture and tourism sectors;

  (b)   workforce skills, including:

     (i)   where the workforce for downstream projects will be sourced,

     (ii)   the impacts of this on skills availability to other sectors, and

     (iii)   the likely need for overseas and interstate employees;

  (c)   the value of the Australian dollar, and thereby the competitiveness of other export markets; and

  (d)   the corporate ownership and flow of profits from downstream projects.

(4)   Can details be provided of any internal or outsourced analysis of the potential positive and negative impacts of the project, including downstream effects, on the local, state and federal governments' budgets, including impacts on:

  (a)   royalties;

  (b)   corporate tax;

  (c)   subsidies through fuel subsidies for mining;

  (d)   infrastructure contributions; and

  (e)   the Queensland Government's fiscal condition, including the robustness of cost recovery plans for this publicly funded infrastructure, and the risk of stranded assets where the infrastructure outlives the resources boom.

(5)   Can details be provided of any internal or outsourced analysis of the potential positive and negative impacts of the project, including downstream effects, on the local communities, including impacts on:

  (a)   the level of community support for the project;

  (b)   local community services;

  (c)   local infrastructure;

  (d)   housing affordability; and

  (e)   the impacts associated with a significant fly-in, fly-out workforce.