http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/queensland-considers-320m-royalty-relief-to-get-adani-mine-into-production-20170518-gw80nk.html
The Queensland Labor government has held the door open to providing Indian mining conglomerate Adani with hundreds of millions of dollars in financial relief to help get its Carmichael coal mine into production.
Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt did not deny a report on Thursday that a $320 million "royalties holiday" was on the table to help progress the $21 billion project, but he insisted "no decision has been made on anything".
An ABC report suggested Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk would agree to charge Adani just $2 million a year for "several years" before a higher rate kicked in.
During the 2015 state election campaign, Ms Palaszczuk accused then premier Campbell Newman of "throwing a bucket of taxpayers' cash" at Adani.
In a statement, Adani said Queensland governments of all stripes had previously "used royalty agreements to enable such projects". (rip off the taxpayer to get jobs - tell Adani to pay their friggin' share!)
"Adani welcomes this approach," the company said. (surprise!)
Mr Pitt insisted the state government was not interested in ad hoc arrangements and would provide an "open and transparent framework" for all proponents while still recognising "first mover advantage" to open up areas such as the Galilee.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said royalties were a matter for the state, but renewed his warning that "if we don't sell [coal] to [India], someone else will". (load of bs - are they going to mine the Moon?)
