Latest news with #Moranbah
News.com.au
8 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Queensland's Burton coal mine could shut leaving hundreds without work
Hundreds of workers at a Queensland coal mine may lose their jobs as its owner considers pausing operations over financial issues. The Burton coal mine, 80 kilometres northwest of Moranbah, has been attempting to ramp up production and lower costs, however the flood season and record low prices have put the facility in a tough position. The mine, which first opened in 2022, could 'pause' production within a matter of months if additional cash or equity is not sourced. The owner of the mine, Bowen Coking Coal Ltd, released a statement on Friday to the stock exchange. 'If immediate funding efforts are unsuccessful and/or coal market pricing dynamics do not improve, Bowen may seek to temporarily pause operations at part, or all, of the Burton Mine Complex,'' the ASX statement read. A number of the company's coal mines have been forced to close in recent years including the Bluff mine near Blackwater. Bowen Coking Coal executive chair Nick Jorss told The Courier Mail soaring state royalties and low prices are to blame for the crisis. 'Bowen is the tip of the iceberg of the pain being felt by central Queensland,'' he said. 'We're not the only ones on the edge. Quite a lot of mines in central Queensland are cash negative, meaning a lot of jobs are at risk.'
ABC News
17-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Lack of aged care facility in central Qld mining towns worries residents
Growing old in a mining town is hard when the nearest aged care facilities are hundreds of kilometres away. The Queensland town of Moranbah is about 190 kilometres south-west of Mackay in central Queensland. It was built in the late 1960s, which means the area's original miners are at retirement age. Anne Ahern manages Hinterland Community Care, an aged care service about 80km from Moranbah. She has worked at the facility for 14 years and said they were overwhelmed. "We can't take on any more aged care clients." Hinterland Community Care has introduced a waiting list for the first time. The service supports frail and aged people and people with disabilities to live at home for as long as possible. But it is not an easy task, covering an area of up to 60,000 square kilometres. "We're seeing the need to increase continuously, but no funds for the need," Ms Ahern said. The Isaac region has an average age of 34, well below the national 38, driven by a large transient population of mine workers. Despite the young average age, Ms Ahern said there was still a need for a residential aged care facility. "An aged care facility would go a long way." A spokesperson for the Mackay Hospital and Health Service said, on average, there were two long-stay patients at Moranbah's 12-bed hospital and two at Dysart Hospital, which had nine beds. Ms Ahern said funds were also scarce to help people stay at home. She said her service was funded just $55 for a one-way, 195km journey from Moranbah to Mackay, where people needed to go for specialist medical appointments. "That's to cover the staff costs and all the vehicle costs," Ms Ahern said. "It's not feasible." After making Moranbah her home in the early 1970s, Lynnie Busk has seen the mining town grow from a caravan park and a few streets to the population centre of the Isaac region. Ms Busk worked as a paralegal and her husband, Noel, was a dragline operator at coking coal mines for 52 years. Both retired last year. The couple decided to build their own home in Moranbah after living in company-provided housing for decades, and said they planned to spend their old age there. "It's probably just as easy as if we lived somewhere else," Ms Busk said. "We've been to Paris, leaving from the Moranbah Airport." However, the lack of an aged care facility makes it difficult for her parents to stay in the town because they require more care, something Ms Busk found her friends had also confronted. "Not that it's something we're wishing on ourselves yet," she said. An hour south-west at Clermont, residents worry about their future despite the town having a high-care residential facility with 22 beds. Local grazier John Burnett is leading a campaign to get federal government funding to reopen Monash Lodge, a low-care residential centre that has sat empty since Queensland Health moved out in 2018. A non-profit body, Belyando Enterprise Network, was formed to push for upgrades to the facility after aged care residents moved out to a new facility built at the hospital. Mr Burnett said Clermont and regional towns needed a range of care offerings. "We have high-care [services] at the hospital," he said. Belyando Enterprises projects the community will need more than 180 aged care places by the mid-2030s. Nationally, ABS data shows demand for permanent residential aged care is expected to climb to about 300,000 places by 2035, up from the current 193,000 places. Clermont is home to almost 3,000 people, and Mr Burnett is concerned demand from surrounding towns with no residential aged care will also increase. Ms Ahern feels government policy and choices about investment are pushing older people away from the coalfields. "Some of our clients have lived here for 40 or 50 years," she said. "This is their home. Why should they move away?"
