HOUSE STOUSH OVER ADANI DIVIDE

ENVIRONMENT and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has accused the Federal Opposition of being divided in their support for Adani’s Carmichael mine and again slammed Cathy O’Toole.

Speaking during Question Time in federal Parliament yesterday, Mr Frydenberg questioned which members of the Opposition could be believed.

“We know where the member for Dawson ( stands), where the member for Capricorn ( stands) but where is the Member for Herbert ( O’Toole),” he said.

“The Member for Herbert rightly is confused because the Leader of the Opposition says and, I quote, ‘ I support the Adani mine’.”

Mr Frydenberg said there were divisions in state and federal Labor over the project.

“You’ve got a division in State Government, across the unions and now DIVISIONS: Josh Frydenberg has criticised Herbert MP Cathy O’Toole ( below) in Parliament over what he claims is her lack of support for the Adani coal mine. in the Federal Opposition,” he said.

Ms O’Toole denied the claims and instead questioned what Mr Frydenberg had done for North Queensland.

“It would be fair to say he hasn’t even been to Townsville,” she said.

“There’s no division within the federal ( Opposition) with this issue or any other issue.

“If it stacks up and it goes ahead I will be fighting really hard that the fly- in fly- out hub is in Townsville.”

The political stoush comes after the Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said that her Government would play no role in funding the Adani mine via the North Australia Infrastructure Facility.

Senator Ian Macdonald said there was a “total division” in the State Government and that they would “have a very minor t e c h n i c a l role” in the distribution of funding. “The state has no decisionmaking power – they act as a conduit for the money ...” he said. “We need the State Government to stop playing games.” Treasurer Curtis Pitt said there was no contradiction between his and Ms Trad’s statements. “They’re both right – the Deputy Premier was talking about the flow of finance and the Treasurer was spelling out the specific legal requirements under the Constitution,” he said. “The only thing Adani needs now is for the Federal Government to assess its application. “The NAIF is a federal concessional loan scheme where NAIF funds will flow directly between the Commonwealth and the project proponent. “Queensland will not handle the money.” Townsville MP Scott Stewart said the Premier had made it clear that the state would “not be standing in the way.” “We haven’t seen any funding ( NAIF) released in two years,” he said. “Here’s the opportunity ( for the Federal Government) to step up and do something about it.”

Thuringowa MP Aaron Harper said NAIF funding was an issue between the Federal Government and Adani.

“Jackie Trad was correct in saying that we aren’t going to be involved,” he said. “We’ve done our bit and we’re not going to stand in the way.”

Mundingburra MP Coralee O’Rourke said the State Government had promised Queensland taxpayers that they wouldn’t subsidise the Carmichael rail line.

“We are keeping that promise,” she said.

Adani spokesman Ron Watson said there had been “active and ongoing discussions” between the company and the State Government.

“The fact that the conversations are ongoing would indicate that there’s some progress, just how long it takes is how long it takes,” he said.

The Adani board is meeting today however the final investment decision for the mine is not on the agenda.