Livelihoods fall prey to Premier
ANNASTACIA Palaszczuk’s decision to veto any federal loan for Adani’s proposed rail line smacks of a knee- jerk reaction made in a tense election battle.
While handing cheap finance to a billionaire was never going to be popular, the Queensland Premier has undermined her administration’s position on the Carmichael coal mine. And that has ramifications in regional Queensland – right where the November 25 election will be won or lost.
The burning question is why? Under the rules of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, states can veto funding if they do not approve.
Anti- Adani activists have honed in on this point, accusing Palaszczuk of breaking her promise not to support the mine with taxpayers’ money. This was always a stretch. The Government initially bound itself in knots over its position. It eventually decided waving through the loan would be politically pragmatic because jobs were the pre- eminent issue. Now it will scupper the loan because the Premier’s partner worked briefly on Adani’s application and the Integrity Commissioner advised she must exclude herself from Cabinet deliberation concerning the NAIF. It’s a classic case of overkill. A few Adani protesters dogged the Premier on the hustings and there are some concerned about Deputy Premier Jackie Trad’s South Brisbane seat.
However, Labor will lose this election if too many regional seats are lost and they have been baying for Adani in Townsville and Rockhampton and everywhere in between.
Palaszczuk claimed smear loomed from the LNP.
Yet there’s no evidence they were peddling her partner’s role and if they did it was true.
It all leaves Labor left looking conflicted on the biggest job- generating project on Queensland horizons, even though it has spent the week spruiking its employment credentials.