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Palmer, whose Waratah Coal China First project also plans to export coal from the Galilee Basin, indicated that he could initiate legal action if the Queensland government didn’t reverse its decision.
Palmer tweeted: “Why is Jeff Seeney destroying billions of dollars of exports and jobs in Qld? Rudd and Bligh govts backed our Galilee rail corridor. What is the reason or do we need a judicial review into Mr Seeney's actions?”
Palmer reportedly said he had given the government 28 days to publicly explain its decision to award the contract to GVK-Hancock over his own or he would take legal action.
"We look forward to having the deputy premier in the dock and give publicly the reasons for why he made the decisions that he did," he is quoted as saying in the Courier Mail.
However, Seeney reportedly said Palmer's deadline was just a continuation of his internal attempts to force the government to meet his demands.
"It's the latest in a long line of various threats and various attempts to bully me and my officers," he told the Courier Mail.
"They won't work, they haven't worked up until now. Clive Palmer has to get the idea that he is going to be treated like every other Queenslander."
In July Seeney announced that an east-west corridor will see an extension of the existing QR National network from near Moranbah to the central Galilee Basin and will provide links to coal ports at Abbot Point, Dalrymple Bay and Dudgeon Point.
A north-south rail corridor will be defined along the proposed GVK-Hancock Coal alignment to facilitate the construction of new standard gauge rail lines to link the proposed large-scale, vertically integrated mining operations in the southern Galilee Basin to Abbot Point.
For the mines proposed for the southern Galilee area the government will define a corridor that straddles the alignment proposed by GVK-Hancock Coal for a new 500km standard gauge line north to Abbot Point.
GVK-Hancock is planning to spend $3 million to build a $495 million rail link to Abbot Point if its project gains federal government approval.
