TSBE's Shane Charles finishes tenure as GasFields commissioner

GASFIELDS commissioner for Community and Business Shane Charles finished his tenure with GasFields Commission Queensland this week, saying Queensland's onshore gas industry had come a long way since the formation of organisation in 2013.

Mr Charles said there were benefits to the industry, not only to the economy, but to landholders and regional Queensland.

"The industry is vital to the future of Queensland's economy, making successful co-existence with rural communities and landholders critical," he said.

Mr Charles, who is also the Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise executive chairman reflected on his time with GFCQ.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my role and think the market place is now better than it was when we started,” Mr Charles said.

“Local content and the live local focus has been treated seriously and companies, and more importantly, their major contractors have come to appreciate the role local companies can play.”

Mr Charles said GFCQ was a unique organisation.

“Most states and territories have recommended that should a gas industry commence in their state, they need something akin to GFCQ.”

“South-east and Western Queensland has become the envy of the state, while only a few short years ago the regional communities were really doing it tough. The advent of this industry has pushed the regions ahead.”

Mr Charles said without gas and the activity that surrounded it, the region would not have been able to grow at the rate it had, and would not have seen the huge advancements with the Wellcamp Airport build, the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing and the infrastructure supporting the growth of the region.

Queensland Resources Council data revealed that in 2015/16, the oil and gas industry directly contributed $12.8 billion to Queensland's economy.

It also showed more than 2,000 Queensland landholders now co-exist with CSG infrastructure on their properties, with compensation paid to landholders between 2010-2015 estimated to be about $238 million.

These payments continue to support farming and grazing businesses.
In the same period, rural and regional Queensland benefited from a total of $247 million of investment by the gas industry in a range of community infrastructure and services, including hospitals, community centres and airport upgrades.

Mr Charles said he was proud of his role with GFCQ that finished on Wednesday and looked forward to seeing the further advancement and innovation of the industry.

Please contact Elouise Quinlivan at [email protected] or phone 4639 4600 for media enquiries.