Subjects: Cleaner fuels.
E&OE …………………………………………………………………………………
Well thank you very much Mr Nicolaides, Mr Greg Bourne, Wayne Swan the Federal Member, other distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
I guess it would be no overstatement to say that anything associated with fuel and the price thereof is very much in the news at the moment due to the escalating world price of crude oil and therefore it’s particularly relevant and apposite that at a time like this, this wonderful project that represents an investment by a number of major companies of $500 million should finally come to fruition. And this project will make a massive contribution to the more environmentally friendly production of fuel in this country. And it will be a very important good news story along the road towards cleaner, more environmentally friendly energy production in Australia.
I guess all of us now are in one way or another environmentalists. The concern for the environment is very much a mainstream issue for Australians, it’s no longer at the periphery of either political life or of the lives of individual Australians. We all look to opportunities to ensure that we can do something in a way that’s a little more sensitive to the environment and I do congratulate all of the companies that have been involved in this project.
It does involve the investment of $500 million to upgrade and expand the Bulwer Refinery. It will produce an industrial gas plant to supply the refinery and industrial markets, a 32-megawatt co-generation plant. Importantly always it will create 700 jobs during the construction phase and 25 new jobs at the expanded refinery. And it’s going to lift production from 73,000 barrels to 88,000 barrels a day.
It is very much another example of the ‘can-do’ nature of Australian business and that’s very important. The capacity of Australian business to collaborate with each other, to do things in a technologically sophisticated fashion. That of course couldn’t occur without very skilled people. It couldn’t occur without a willing, highly intelligent workforce. And it couldn’t occur without intelligent, progressive management. And as is always the case with successful, large projects you need a co-operative spirit between the management and the workforce and I know that that will be the case with this project and as it is with so many other projects that are brought to successful fruition in Australia.
Exciting developments are occurring in energy and transport with cleaner fuels and energy sources as well as transport coming on line. And Australia is very well placed to be part of this global revolution and the Government will stand with business and communities in taking advantage of this. One of the Government’s, might I say and this is always an opportunity for the odd reference to what the Government is doing, one of the Government’s proudest achievements is that we’re spending record amounts on reducing greenhouse gases and air pollution. And it’s very important to draw your attention on an occasion where there’s a bit of focus on the successful introduction of the new taxation system which has resulted in the lower than expected CPI figure yesterday, I just mention that along the way if I may, that one of the elements of the agreement that the Government negotiated with the Australian Democrats were the setting aside of some hundreds of millions of dollars to support projects that will produce better environmental outcomes in the years ahead. And that’s a very important element of the agreement that was made and we intend to honour that agreement because we treated seriously the concerns that they had and also the Government had in relation to environmental issues.
So can I say that I am delighted to have been invited to come here today because it’s a big investment, but it’s very much an investment in something that we all believe in and that’s clean fuel. I congratulate the companies involved. Large corporations, particularly large corporations in the energy business are easy targets for people, it’s easy to slag off against big companies, easy indeed. And therefore when you find a prime example of those companies getting together to produce something for the common good but something that also happens to be commercially sensible it’s a remarkable double and it ought to be acclaimed and it ought to be respected for what it is. All of the companies involved in this project are being very good corporate citizens in Australia and I want to say on behalf of the Government how much we thank them for their commitment. We applaud the technological sophistication of the scientists and the industrial engineers that make these things possible and most importantly of course we applaud the calculated risk taking that’s always involved when you invest a few dollars and in this occasion it’s 500 million of those few dollars and that’s a big investment in anybody’s language. It’s a good, it’s a good outcome for the country, it’s a good outcome for this part of Queensland and I have enormous pleasure in being here today and marking this remarkable project in the appropriate way. Thank you.
[Ends]