Queensland Premier Campbell Newman plans for his state to be the export point for hundreds of millions of tonnes of resources per year, by way of developments at five of its existing ports.

The Queensland Government Draft Ports Plan was released last week and is intended to allow for large-scale development of ports at Brisbane, Mackay/Hay Point, Gladstone, Townsville and Abbot Point.

The draft plans carry a commitment from the Government to maintain “concern for the Great Barrier Reef and threatened species”, while giving the five ports a “licence to grow”.

The licence will not be extended outside the limits of the five designated Priority Port Development Areas, where dredging for additional deep-water ports will be banned until 2024.

Announcing the plan, Deputy Premier and State Development Minister Jeff Seeney said; “We need to find a sensible way forward and work within the existing port networks to ensure our state can still do business but not put at risk our greatest natural asset, the Great Barrier Reef.”

Condemning the plan, Greenpeace representative Louise Matthieson said; “All of the current dredging proposals, which UNESCO is worried about, are within those five areas.”

Ports Australia and the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) are among the industry groups set to benefit from the port expansions, speaking strongly in favour of initiatives and proceedings in the Draft Plan. QRC acting Chief Executive Greg Lane said “Mr Newman made it very clear to QRC members that his focus was on securing the best environmental outcomes for the state, not the most complicated and costly regulatory system...so it is that he has found a willing ally in Prime Minister Tony Abbott.”

The Draft Plan also hints at the possibility of privatising some of the currently government-owned-corporations in charge of the ports, saying the Government was “reviewing governance arrangements for Queensland ports to provide advice on the benefits and costs of a range of possible options, including those recommended in the Queensland Commission of Audit Report”.

The Audit Report recommends “the commercial operations of Gladstone Ports Corporation and Port of Townsville Limited be offered for long term lease to private operators.”

The new planning direction for Queensland's ports is aimed at facilitating the transport of coal, bauxite, petroleum products, agricultural produce, tourists, livestock and various minerals. The total weight of imports and exports has dropped since 2009.

Over a million Queenslanders rely directly on the state's ports for their jobs and livelihoods, Government figures say. While the plan has been roundly condemned by those who believe the Great Barrier Reef is placed at risk by dredging and other industrial activity, it is certainly true that without the export points, Queensland's economy and its contribution to the federal money-pile would greatly decrease.

It remains to be seen how the new plans will affect the United Nations' view of the management of nearby natural resources, though it can be assumed that from a purely conservative perspective the large-scale projects will be near impossible to defend.