Galilee Basin
[6] The Galilee Basin covers 14 local government areas; Barcaldine; Barcoo; Blackall-Tambo; Central Highlands; Charters Towers; Diamantina; Flinders; Longreach; Maranoa; McKinlay; Murweh; Quilpie; Richmond & Winton, with none entirely included within the Galilee Basin.
[4] The Galilee Basin overlies the mining districts of Charters Towers; Dalby; Emerald; Mount Isa; Quilpie & Winton.
[4] There are native title claims covering large portions of the basin and a number of Indigenous Land Use Agreements in place.
[4] With limited forestry restricted to the south-eastern corner and no coastal connection for fishery, this category is dominated by sheep and beef production.
[4] This is followed by five categories including retail trade; construction; education and training (schools mostly); transport, postal and warehousing; and accommodation and food services, which all provide significant employment (5 to 8%) in the Galilee Basin.
[4] The Galilee Basin has a diversity of ecological communities and species as a consequence of the interactions between its large area, several biologically significant climatic gradients, the biogeographic effects of eight river basins, and the importance of landscape form driving water and soil redistribution in semi-arid environments of inland Australia.
[4] Other vegetation subgroups occur with lower frequency and form a complex mosaic that gradually changes from north-east to south-west across the Galilee Basin.
The woody components of these vegetation types have been subject to clearance over 16% of the Galilee Basin, mainly to the east, with the aim of improving pasture productivity.
[4] The ecology of rockholes (shallow depressions that collect local rainwater) and outcrop springs (springs of water that has percolated through rock layers in the immediately surrounding area) is poorly studied, as is the ecology of the species that occur within aquifers below ground level (stygobiota).
[4] The ecology of both discharge springs and stygobiota is understood to depend on relatively stable water regimes, compared with the highly intermittent character of other aquatic habitats in the region.
[4] As a result of water drawdown for agriculture, discharge springs have been subject to significant degradation over the last century.
Discharge springs have also been subject to invasion by exotic plants and disturbance by sheep, pigs, horses and donkeys.
[4] These large aquifers are utilised as a water supply across much the Galilee subregion and importantly form a significant part of the recharge zone.
Waschbusch et al. (2009)[27] suggested the basin formed as a response to platform tilting caused by mantle corner flow.
[28] Tuff and volcanolithic sandstone were deposited during the Early Permian (Jochmus Fm), and was followed by east–west contraction (Cattle Creek Event) that produced the Mid-Permian unconformity across the basin.
[28] Thermal subsidence (Aldebaran and Bellata events) in the Late Permian – Early Triassic generated widespread continental siliciclastics with coal and some marine sandstone across the basin.
[29] The Galilee Basin has 48 currently granted mining leases, comprising a total area of 19.30 square kilometres (7.45 sq mi).
[34] Large deposits of Permian thermal coal (Betts Creek Beds & Colinlea Sandstone) outcrop on the eastern margin of the Galilee Basin.
In July 2014, Greg Hunt, the Australian Minister for Environment approved Adani's proposal for the Carmichael coal mine and its associated rail link to the coast.
[47] Palmer's proposed China First mine which is owned by Waratah Coal,[48] would result in the destruction of Bimblebox Nature Refuge, which is part of Australia's National Reserve System and is listed as a conservation area of State Significance in Queensland.
[49] The reserve is co-owned local landowner Paola Cassoni who is adamant the endangered black-throated finch must be protected.
[48]In 2022 Queensland land court President Fleur Kingham ruled that the project should not go ahead because of its impact on climate change, its broader environmental effects, and its erosion of human rights.
[50] The mine is expected to export 40 million tonnes of coal a year and according to Palmer will proceed even though one of the original supporters, Vitol, has left the project.
[51] China First Coal includes an open-cut, underground longwall mine, standard gauge railway and port facility.
Galilee Basin coals are substantially lower in trace elements when compared to domestic and international averages.
[35] Analysis of the CO2 emissions indicates a competitive product when compared against international benchmarks, producing 1.1 tonnes of CO2 per Megawatt hour of electricity generated.
[56] The Galilee Basin SDA will enable a coordinated approach to developing a multi-user common rail corridor whilst minimising impacts on landholders and the environment.
