MP right, Adani wrong

BARRY Davies’ letter “O’Toole still evasive on attitude towards Adani” ( TB, 1/ 2) is wrong.

Firstly there is a false dichotomy between the jobs and the environment portrayed by Adani supporters.

The amount of jobs within the tourism and environmental industries that surround the Reef exceeds 60,000 compared to Adani’s 1464 jobs.

During the Land Court of Australia hearings, Adani’s expert witness Dr Jerome Fahrer admitted the mine would only create 1464 direct and indirect jobs, and not the 10,000 jobs they had been spruiking.

North Queenslanders need to hear the truth, not the many lies this foreign company continues to outline.

I found it interesting that the Adani headquarters, here in Townsville, brought workers up from the south rather than hiring locally. This hasn’t helped our workforce by any means.

Now we see the Townsville City Council wanting to use ratepayer dollars to build an airport that won’t even sit inside the Townsville region. How will workers or Townsville residents benefit from that?

Surely we could have used these funds to upgrade the Townsville Airport. This would have employed local companies and workers and aided our city by creating further capacity for tourism, which would boost our economy greatly.

Instead of arguing with airlines about increasing fees, the council could used those funds for airport upgrading.

Mr Davies’ comments towards MP Cathy O’Toole are again distorted.

The Federal Government had no handlings of the Adani project at all. The only matter that presented as a federal issue was the matter of native title.

I have read many statements by Ms O’Toole and I agree with her. The Adani mine project should be able to stand on its own two feet financially ( as it is a multi- billion dollar company) and should meet the environ- mental requirements set out by our governments.

The Adani company should not be receiving handouts from local, state or federal governments, especially if domestic and international banks continue to decline financing the project.

The independent body, NAIF, should be funding vital local projects, which I am sure Townsville has plenty of.

I may not agree with her all the time, but Ms O’Toole is working hard for our city.

Finally we have someone representing us with a bit of guts and honesty. SALLY IRVINE, Townsville.