Clive Palmer is a step closer to building his massive Queensland coal project, but horrified green groups are digging in to fight it.
The state's coordinator-general approved the $6.4 billion Waratah Coal-China First Galilee Coal project on Friday, subject to strict conditions.
The mega project, which includes six mines and a 468km rail line, must also be approved by the federal government before it can go ahead.
Barcaldine mayor Rob Chandler says the project would be a major boon for his region, in particular the towns of Alpha and Jericho.
"Welcome aboard, Clive," he laughed.
But the mayor said governments and the miners would have to ensure the communities around the project received the infrastructure, like roads, sewerage and hospitals, they needed to grow properly.
Mr Chandler was also confident the approvals processes would address any environmental concerns.
However, thousands of hectares of vegetation on the Bimblebox nature refuge, a habitat of the endangered black-throated finch and at least 220 species of plants, stand in the way of the project.
The coordinator-general has said that Waratah Coal-China First must draft species, weed, bushfire, erosion, water management plans among a raft of other conditions.
But Greenpeace spokeswoman Louise Matthiesson claimed they were standard conditions for most mining projects.
"We're horrified that the Queensland government could approve this massive, very destructive project," she told AAP.
"It just shows how weak the state's environmental laws are when it will bulldoze 14,000 hectares of bushland, including a nature reserve."
The Friends of the Earth and Lock the Gate Alliance (LGA), who held a protest against the approval outside state government offices in Brisbane on Friday, were also deeply concerned.
"They should suspend this project immediately," LGA spokeswoman Hannah Aulby told AAP.
"They've prioritised mining interests over everyone else."
