Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I'm delighted to update the Senate on the progress that has occurred at the Adani Carmichael mine, especially the progress that has occurred since 18 May. The progress is going well. There are now in fact around 150 people employed at the site at Carmichael in outback Queensland. They're moving dirt. Around 50 different big yellow things—big pieces of earthmoving equipment—are there, and they have already moved a sum total of 100,000 cubic metres of dirt, producing and developing this nation-building project. Construction has started on a five-kilometre dam wall at the site, too.

Yesterday, I thanked the Australian Greens for demonstrating the benefits of natural gas, with their hot air balloon demonstration outside. I've got another thing to thank the Australian Greens for today: if you want more of the progress at the Adani Carmichael mine site, you can just log on to Facebook. Many of the desperate, daily, vain Facebook live streams of anticoal activists are there for you, and you can see in the background all the work happening at the Carmichael site. It's continuing to happen. People have a job. People have hope. People have a future in Central Queensland, thanks to this project.

I also welcome the fact that Adani recently announced they would open an office in my home town of Rockhampton, to build on the headquarters they have in Townsville, where hundreds of people are employed. I look forward to joining the local member, Michelle Landry, who has fought so hard for these projects over the years. When that office is opened in Rockhampton, what a great day it will be for Rocky. It will have an office of a major mining company that employs people not just out at the mine site but also in town in office jobs, giving young people, in particular, in Central Queensland opportunities for a future so they don't have to move away just to get a job.