LNP dogged as it backs Adani loan
LNP leader Tim Nicholls has reiterated he would support a loan for Indian mining giant Adani, amid speculation the Carmichael mega-mine could secure Chinese finance.
“As I’ve said, an LNP government would never stand in the way of any loans that may deliver jobs in regional Queensland,” Mr Nicholls.
Asked if he would support Chinese finance for Adani, Mr Nicholls said they were commercial matters but the Foreign Investment Review Board would need to be involved in any such decisions.
“It seems to me to be a very fluid situation,” he said.
“What I can say is this – this is a project that will, when it gets going, deliver jobs for regional Queensland.
“It is a project that has been put under a cloud because Annastacia Palaszczuk has been flip-flopping all over the place and putting her job ahead of the jobs of regional Queenslanders and I just don’t think that’s good enough.”
Anti-Adani activists targeted Mr Nicholls yesterday during a leaders debate in Townsville, hiding within the venue for hours to storm the stage.
The group of Stop Adani protesters emerged from hiding places under an audiovisual stage at The Ville Resort-Casino after the Opposition Leader began his speech.
The group made it to the stage, yelling and waving banners before security removed them.
It came after Townsville Enterprise chief executive Patricia O’Callaghan said earlier at the breakfast she disagreed with Ms Palaszczuk’s decision to veto a Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility loan to Adani.
Ms O’Callaghan said she had recently been pitted against a Greens candidate in an interview with a southern radio station on the Adani veto.
“When the Greens representative talked about how this was a win for their party, my heart broke for the thousands of people who registered for those jobs with Adani,” she said.
Mr Nicholls “wasn’t worried about the protest disruption”.
“It’s part and parcel of the hurly burly of politics,” he said.
“It was just bloody rude to be frank.”
Anti-Adani protesters twice tracked down Annastacia Palaszczuk on day two of the campaign, with one hijacking a morning television interview.