State Labor for Adani – federal ALP against
Party plays two games in Vic, Qld
LABOR supports the Adani coal mine, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has told Parliament – despite Federal leader Bill Shorten saying he is against the project.
After being probed by the Opposition during Question Time yesterday, the Premier said she supported the resource industry and the jobs it delivered to Queensland.
“This government supports the Adani project if it stacks up, we have from day one,” she said. “I will stand up for Queensland and for jobs in the resources sector for what it brings this state.”
While saying she supported the project, the Premier again moved the discussion towards gas resources, saying she had spoken to many people about it during her trip to the US.
Mr Shorten has previously voiced his scepticism about the mine, but on Monday revealed for the first time he “didn’t support” the $16.5 billion project.
He raised doubts about whether it stacked up “commercially and environmentally”, but indicated he would not rip up the Indian miner’s approvals if Labor won government, because it could scare off other investors.
The comments have come as Labor is battling a tight contest with the Greens in the inner Melbourne seat of Batman, where opposition to the mine has become a defining issue of the campaign.
They also follow Mr Shorten’s acceptance of an Australian Conservation Foundation-funded $17,000 tour of the Great Barrier Reef and a charter flight over the Carmichael coal mine site in January.
Frustrated at their leader’s outright opposition to the project, on Monday night some Labor MPs called it “unnecessary” and “not the Opposition Leader’s job”.
The Adani proposal has been through all of its federal environmental approvals.
Malcolm Turnbull has accused Mr Shorten of being two-faced by saying one thing to unions, who want the 10,000 direct and indirect jobs Adani has promised, and another to green groups fighting the mine.
Mr Shorten said Adani was struggling to attract finance and had missed “numerous deadlines”.
“I don’t support the Adani project,” he said. “If you believe the initial hype and boosterism about Adani, they’d have been shipping coal out of Australia for the last three years.
“Labor has said it has got to stack up both commercially and environmentally. In terms of the commerce, no Australian bank will invest in it. No Australian super will invest in it. How many more deadlines can this business fail to meet?”
Adani said in a statement yesterday Mr Shorten’s promise not to derail the coal mine was great news and it was pushing on with efforts to stitch up finance for the project.
“We welcome the comments from federal Labor that it will not seek to overturn the project’s 112 existing approvals,” the company said.