The funding, originally earmarked for 2009-2010 from the Sustainable Resource Communities support package, will be brought forward to the 2009 calendar year and used for regional capital projects to create employment.

The funding was announced after a meeting called by Premier Anna Bligh with the Queensland Resources Council, industry and unions in the wake of 400 miners losing their jobs this week as industry faces an unprecedented downturn in demand.

Bligh also announced a Rapid Response Flying Squad – a mobile team of cross-agency representatives that will travel to affected areas to offer support to displaced workers.

She also established a “1800” workers assistance helpline to provide a single point of contact for government assistance and support and the development of an apprentice assistance package to protect apprenticeships and traineeships.

The government will also introduce a streamlined process for approvals of new mines to ensure companies in a position to expand can do so without unnecessary delay.

A group made up of government, industry and union representatives will convene weekly to oversee a joint response to the effect of the current downturn on the industry.

Following yesterday’s meeting the QRC said it came away “confident” that the state’s mines will be supported to ride out the global financial crisis.

“The QRC delegation came away from the meeting confident of the government’s continuing support for the sector in what are, by any measure, remarkable circumstances triggered by the global financial crisis,” QRC chief executive Michael Roche said.

Roche said one of Europe’s leading steelmakers had this week announced a three-month moratorium on all further shipments of metallurgical coal, which earlier this year attracted contract prices of more than $US300 per tonne.

“Economic circumstances vary from company to company and that’s why we have welcomed the government’s commitment to streamline the development approvals process for new resource projects,” Roche said.

“This could be the most effective means of securing new jobs for skilled miners whose services are so important to the economy, particularly in regional Queensland.”