The Queensland government has been given an "iron clad" guarantee from Indian mining giant Adani that it will not use 457 visas at its Carmichael mine and will prioritise local workers.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk met with Adani global head Gautam Adani and CEO Jeyakumar Janakaraj to announce Townsville would become the company's headquarters as it begins construction on the $21.7 billion projects from June or July next year.
"Today is the signalling of a new era, a new dawn, for this city," Ms Palaszczuk said at the Port of Townsville.
"I have got an iron-clad guarantee from Mr Adani that there will be no 457 visas as part of the workforce for this major project."
The project is expected to generate about 10,000 jobs over its lifespan of 50-60 years.
Ms Palaszczuk described the plans as "generational".
Federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan said the project would create an "economic ecosystem" in the region that would create jobs in other sectors as well.
