Premier calls for protesters to be more respectful
ANNASTACIA P a l a s z c z u k has struggled to get her crucial re- election message across, with anti- Adani protesters again haunting the Premier for the second day.
And interruptions are expected to continue, with activists vowing to do what it takes to stop the Galilee coal mine.
The protesters initially struck as Ms Palaszczuk was doing a live cross with Sky News at the Airlie Beach lagoon yesterday morning.
One of the men was tackled to the ground by her staff after rushing the Premier as she spoke. Ms Palaszczuk attempted to laugh the incident off as her interview continued.
She was then approached again when she was off air and attempting to leave the area.
“Well thank you for wrecking the Great Barrier Reef because that will be the writing on your gravestone, your headstone,” protester Alison Mason said.
The security detail with the Premier then spoke with Ms Mason as Ms Palaszczuk left.
Protesters then followed the Premier to her next location, the Proserpine Hospital, also in the marginal seat of Whitsunday – a must- win seat for Labor if it has any hope of winning the 47 seats it needs to earn a majority in Parliament.
Ms Palaszczuk announced Labor would hire 3500 new nurses over four years should the party win a second term.
But questions quickly turned to the protesters, the Premier insisting the activists needed to be more respectful.
“I think people have a right to have their say and I will listen to their views. But I did think that a couple of them did get a little out of hand,” she said. “I didn’t know whether I was … going to be tackled.”
The mine is a vexed issue for Labor. It needs to support it to win over voters in regional seats like Mackay, Rockhampton and Townsville but that support has angered some voters in the southeast.