13/04/2017

Adani Firms On $1bn Loan As Turnbull Promises To 'Fix' Native Title Problems

AFR - Phillip Coorey


Turnbull to fix native title for Adani

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has told Malcolm Turnbull his company will seek a taxpayer-funded concessional loan of up to $1 billion to support his proposed $21.7 billion coal mine in Queensland.
And the Prime Minister has assured him the native title hurdles threatening the project will be "fixed".
Following a meeting with Mr Adani and his executives in New Delhi on Monday night, Mr Turnbull cautioned the loan – to help build a $2 billion railway line to link the mine to the coast – would have to be approved on its commercial merits by the independent board which administers the $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund.
"They are enthusiastic to make an application to the NAIF," Mr Turnbull said. "It will be assessed scrupulously independently." He said the loan may not be enough to guarantee the whole project and it was up to Mr Adani to satisfy the project's commercial challenges.
But Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce argued the loan should be approved, saying it was "a tipping point issue" as to whether the mine went ahead.
"I know the greenies will go off their heads … but I can deal with that," Mr Joyce said.
Labor leader Bill Shorten re-emphasised his opposition to giving the company a loan, saying the entire project should rest on its commercial merits. He also said it would be unfair to other companies in Australia. "Other mining companies are not getting billion-dollar railways built for them. I'm not convinced that the taxpayer of Australia should underwrite the risk of the project," Mr Shorten said.

Stuck in Senate
During the meeting on Monday, Mr Adani expressed concern at a Federal Court decision in February on native title which has threatened the giant coal mine as well as 125 other developments.
The government moved swiftly by introducing legislation – with the initial support of Labor – to overturn the decision, but it has become stuck in the Senate. Mr Turnbull said "the issue needs to be fixed and will be fixed" when Parliament resumes in May.
The legislation seeks to overturn the McGlade decision that upheld the Native Title Act requirement that all traditional owners are needed to sign an Indigenous land use agreement or the agreement is invalid.
The decision related to a claim in Western Australia but put in doubt 126 projects nationwide, including Adani's Carmichael mine. Soon after, members of the Wangan and Jagalingou clans lodged documents in the Federal Court in Brisbane challenging claims Adani had the consent of all traditional owners to proceed with the mine.
The legislation never passed Parliament because it would make permanent the changes to the Native Title Act whereas Labor wanted it only to specifically address the 126 projects affected. Mr Turnbull said he would adjust the legislation to satisfy Labor and protect the Adani project.
But over time, the government would press the Senate crossbench to support the broader changes.
"It's a decision that can't be allowed in practical terms to let stand," Mr Turnbull said. "We can advance the other amendments at a later date."
The Adani proposal is enormously controversial with environmental groups but Mr Turnbull said it was economically vital. "Plainly there's a huge economic benefit from a project of this kind," he said. "This project, if it's built, will create tens of thousands of jobs."
Mr Turnbull left for Mumbai on Tuesday night where the focus switched to trade and energy.

Key areas of disagreement
In a business speech, he announced the formation of the India Economic Strategy, led by former senior diplomat Peter Varghese, to try to exploit the economic relationship with India as plans for a free trade deal falter.
Mr Turnbull and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, have attempted to breathe life into the FTA by commissioning senior officials to hold talks and identify the key areas of disagreement. For India, that is agriculture, for Australia it is labour mobility.
But the India Economic Strategy is a different approach to the FTA.
"The strategy will look beyond the immediate horizon. It will provide a plan to unlock the opportunities that will help us grow together, with a map that will guide our partnership through to 2035," Mr Turnbull said.
"It is not about Australia 'discovering India' but cementing India as a priority economic partner. "It will explore how to strengthen existing economic collaboration, whilst identifying new ways to do business together.
"It will identify how Australia's extensive reform experience can best support India's economic reform agenda and modernisation."
And it will recommend new ways to maximise mutual benefits, including by engaging at the sub-national level – many Indian states have globally significant economies in their own right, Mr Turnbull said.

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