Office of the Coordinator-General

Did you know that Queensland has one of the world’s largest known resources for vanadium, mainly in oil shale developments? With new industries set to play a key role in supporting the growth of thriving regions QEM Limited (ASX:QEM) is proposing to extract and process both vanadium and oil shale at their Julia Creek Vanadium and Energy project. QEM are proposing both conventional and novel approaches to process oil shale, with some of the technology routinely used internationally but not yet within Australia. This project will: 🔹Create economic opportunities locally and in Townsville 🔹Provide a source of fuel for local industries 🔹Support the development of an emerging vanadium industry 🔹Create additional local jobs to keep our regions thriving! The Coordinator-General’s declaration of this project as a coordinated project recognises the role that the north-west Queensland region is playing in helping the state meet renewables targets. The next step is for us to prepare the terms of reference for the environmental impact statement to ensure that any environmental, economic or social impacts are identified and minimised and benefits enhanced. You can read more about this project here: https://lnkd.in/gAn9gs4b

Our work secures a better life now and for future generations - and we’re proud of the impact we’ve had this year in facilitating projects that enhance our already great communities and support our incredible lifestyle! In 2024 we enabled projects that will contribute to Queensland’s economic growth, support long-term sustainable outcomes and a cleaner, greener future. It’s been a huge year, and we’re looking forward to 2025 and continuing to support projects that deliver economic, social and environmental benefits - and make things possible for a better Queensland! You can read more about us and the projects we support here: https://lnkd.in/gHZXe9HZ

Some members of the OCG team recently visited the Burdekin Falls Dam on the Burdekin River, 210 km south of Townsville. The dam was completed in 1987 and stores 1,860,000ML of water when it’s at full capacity. You might not realise this, but it’s the largest water storage dam in Queensland! Increasing demand for water in North Queensland for irrigated agriculture and to support growth in Townsville, Abbot Point State Development Area, and Port of Abbot Point means that securing water security for the future is more important than ever. Sunwater is currently preparing an environmental impacts statement for the Burdekin Falls Dam Raising project, where raising the dam wall by 2 metres will significantly increase the capacity of the dam to supply water to communities and industry in the region and help meet these growing demands. Projects like this will play a key role in keeping our regions thriving and setting Queensland up for a bright and prosperous future. You can read more about the Burdekin Falls Dam Raising project here: https://lnkd.in/gCGJJuVp

🌞Queensland🌞 Great lifestyle, thriving communities, and a bright future. Looking ahead, we’re supporting our growing communities and industries by ensuring the right projects are delivered at the right time. If a project is identified as being particularly significant for either economic growth or to improve the liveability of our regions, and it meets certain other criteria, it can be declared as a ‘prescribed project.’ This means the Coordinator-General can use his unique powers to intervene, if necessary, in state and local government approval processes to ensure the important project is delivered without delay. These are projects like: 🔹Copperstring 2032 🔹Vecco Critical Minerals Project 🔹Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct These projects deliver real benefits for the regions, and we’re proud to be playing a role in helping set Queensland up for a bright and prosperous future! You can read more about the prescribed project process here: https://lnkd.in/g2KVDnyp

Queensland is home to many dams which supply water and provide irrigation and flood mitigation for the regions. Some of our dams are also popular for recreation use including fishing and boating. However, many of the dams in Queensland were built decades ago and while they are built to last for years, they do need continual assessment, monitoring and maintenance. Some of the dams, like Lake Macdonald Dam in Noosa Shire, are now in need of an upgrade to ensure they can safely and reliably continue to supply water to the region for years to come. We are currently working with Seqwater to facilitate an upgrade the Lake MacDonald (Six Mile Creek) Dam to meet modern safety standards and reduce the risks associated with extreme weather events. Early works, which will take place before main construction activity, have just been given the green light by the Coordinator-General, meaning this essential project can get underway and ensure the Sunshine Coast remains a great place to live, work and visit! 📷Thanks to seqwater for the artist impression You can read more about this project here: https://lnkd.in/gaCwNP3u

Meet the people driving our vision! Over the past few months, we’ve been working hard to deliver many milestones, one of which has been to create a vision for our future and define our purpose to ‘make things possible for a better Queensland’. We are delighted to introduce you to our Executive Leadership team who will be instrumental in delivering our new vision: 📷Left to right: Alyssa Cameron Executive Director, Planning and Industry Elisa Terry Executive Director, Energy Kerry Smeltzer Assistant Coordinator-General, New Economy and Energy Transition Melissa Nichols Executive Director, New Economy Gerard Coggan Coordinator-General Shaun Ferris Assistant Coordinator-General, Industry and Infrastructure Development Krystal Baker Executive Director, Strategy and Business Kirsty Elliott Executive Director, Infrastructure and Projects There are exciting times ahead for the Office of the Coordinator-General, and we’re looking forward to sharing more stories about the impact of our work, and the difference we are making for Queensland.

Bowen is set to take Australia into the space age as the green light has been given for the launch of Australia’s first commercial orbital rocket! This morning, we were delighted to hear the news that Gilmour Space Technologies has been granted a permit to launch its 25-metre orbital rocket from Bowen in Queensland. The Bowen Orbital Spaceport is situated in the Abbot Point State Development Area (SDA), approximately 20 kilometres north-west of Bowen. SDA’s are one of the ways in which the Office of the Coordinator General partners with industry to support the growth of thriving, connected regional communities by creating local jobs and new export and procurement opportunities. By planning and facilitating SDA’s we enable the diversification of industrial development and unlock investment opportunities to deliver huge economic benefits in regional areas like Bowen. We provided development approval for the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in 2022, and a huge amount of work has gone on behind the scenes to reach this exciting milestone with strong collaboration across Economic Development Queensland and North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation It will be a truly historic moment, and we can’t wait for the countdown to launch! It's great to see good things happening in the regions. Image: Gerard Coggan Adam Gilmour

Assistant Coordinator-General Kerry Smeltzer recently had the privilege of meeting with the Brisbane branch of the Young Mining Professionals (YMP). The YMP are a group of driven, up-and-coming young mining professionals who are passionate about the industry and supporting the development of the skills that will be needed in our growing renewable energy industries. On the evening Kerry spoke about the importance of not only strong engagement and collaboration with the industry, but also how important inclusive, respectful, meaningful and tailored community and stakeholder engagement will be as critical mineral mining gains momentum in the regions. Supporting young professional to build their skills, collaborate and share their knowledge is really important to us, so a big thank you Young Mining Professionals Brisbane for inviting us along!

Queensland is building a renewable energy ‘supergrid’ to support economic growth and help meet our renewable energy targets. Pumped Hydroelectric Energy Storage (PHES), or pumped hydro as it is often known, will play a key role in meeting these targets. PHES projects generate power by pumping water into an upper reservoir in times of energy surplus and then generate energy by releasing water through a powerhouse into a lower reservoir. We’ve just finalised the terms of reference for the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Capricornia PHES and Transmission project on the Broken River, 80 kilometres west of Mackay and 10 kilometres northwest of Eungella. The EIS assessment process ensures that environmental impacts are identified and mitigated or managed in line with relevant legislation. This project will now take the next step with the proponent preparing a draft EIS which be released for community consultation when ready. You can read more about pumped hydro and how it works here: https://lnkd.in/gC4TNDd8 And more about the Capricornia PHES and Transmission project here: https://lnkd.in/gmUB7NhE Capricornia Energy Hub

Let’s talk about another critical mineral – silica! Silica is an essential mineral in the manufacture of things like solar panels - that’s one of the reasons why it’s considered a critical mineral in Queensland's transition to renewable energy. Silica sand has been mined in Queensland for more than 50 years, but now we are looking to the future and supporting projects that will ensure we expand our resource base to keep up with demand. One of the current coordinated projects going through the environmental impact statement (EIS) process, the Northern Silica project, is next to an existing sand mine at Cape Flattery on the east coast of the Cape York Peninsular, near Hope Vale. This important project will generate silica sand for export to Asia and create jobs for local and indigenous people in Hopevale, Cooktown, Cairns and other local regional centres. We recently released the final terms of reference for the EIS and the project proponent is now progressing with preparing a draft EIS alongside ongoing consultation with the Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples of the area. We're passionate about fostering a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable future for Queenslanders and are working hard to facilitate potential projects like this, in the right way. You can read more about the Northern Silica project here: https://lnkd.in/gVWC7s6V