Mining giant Adani is growing impatient with ongoing setbacks to Australia's largest coal mine and is urging governments to finalise pending approvals.
While conceding it has been forced to delay engineering work, Adani says it is committed to the $16.5 billion Carmichael project in central Queensland, set to deliver 10,000 jobs.
But the Indian firm delivered a warning after reports emerged it has told contractors to suspend a number of projects, such as the rail line that would link the mine with the Abbot Point terminal.
"It is important to note we are now into the fifth year of development and approvals and therefore the need to finalise those approvals and timelines is critical," the mining firm said in a statement.
The state government's proposal to bring in stricter port and dredging laws to protect the Great Barrier Reef are understood to be the latest setback for the project.
It's unclear whether an approval to dredge the Abbot Point port, which was expected to ship most of the coal from the Carmichael mine, will be nullified by the new laws.
Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt seemed unconcerned that engineering work has halted or that the state's proposed laws could sink the project.
"I couldn't comment, those are matters for Adani," he said.
Mr Pitt said it was important for the state to facilitate the development of Galilee Basin coal resources for all investors, but added he wasn't budgeting for royalties revenue from the Carmichael project.
"It would irresponsible to do so," Mr Pitt said.
"We're not factoring those things, we'll clearly need to have some more certainty before we can consider what some of those forecasts might look like."
The development comes as environmentalist Professor Tim Flannery called on Queensland to ditch investment in the Galilee Basin mine and instead pump funding into renewable energy like solar.
He said Chinese coal demand was tipped to drop by five per cent in the next year as they turn towards renewables.
"There are better ways of generating electricity than coal," he told ABC Radio.
"You've got world-class resources in terms of solar power in Queensland, you've got great universities that are right in there with clean-tech revolution."
But Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche said developing countries wanted Queensland's "high quality" cleaner coal and they would simply go to foreign producers if the state scaled back mining.
Queensland is Australia's largest coal-producing state, accounting for almost half the country's total exports in 2014.
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