Extract from The Guardian
Environment spokeswoman Jackie Trad says Labor would halt
‘unprecedented’ support shown for Adani coal project by Campbell
Newman’s government
Labor has said it would scrap hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of taxpayer funding for the controversial Carmichael coalmine in central Queensland if it took power in the state election.
The opposition environment spokeswoman, Jackie Trad, said Labor would abandon the “unprecedented” taxpayer support of Indian mining company Adani shown by the Newman government, which “appeared to be the only investor to date”.
Trad told Guardian Australia of Labor’s plans to roll back three years of “green tape” cuts by the Liberal National party government, including restoring wild rivers protection laws and legal rights for communities and activists to object to mining projects.
She also spoke of giving the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) “the proper resources and independent statutory leadership” to give proper scrutiny to contentious decisions made in favour of large political donors.
Trad said the government was “arrogant and out of control” and had refused to listen to rural landholders’ concerns about mining.
Asked if Labor in power would consider revisiting Newman government decisions involving party donors, Trad said: “We’ll have to take that on board. It’s just not something we have given deep consideration to.”
Trad also stopped short of ruling out altogether Labor support for dredging in Great Barrier Reef waters to expand Adani’s Abbot Point coal port near Bowen.
But she said Labor opposed dredging while financial backing for the project remained up in the air.
“The Queensland Labor party will not be supporting dredging up the Great Barrier Reef for a project that hasn’t received financial closure,” Trad said.
“Why we are dredging the Great Barrier Reef for a port that is currently only operating at 60% capacity, for additional coal exports that are yet to be dug out of the ground, remains a mystery.
“The Newman government must explain what the urgency is, why they are so much in a hurry to dredge up the reef for coal exports that are yet to be dug out of the ground. What is the rush?”
Carmichael would be the largest mine in the Galilee basin, where it is estimated thermal coal – once burned – would far outstrip Australia’s annual total carbon emissions.
Its distance inland means an expensive railway is required to get it to Abbot Point, with the government offering to invest $450m, according to Indian media reports that the government has not confirmed.
Trad said Labor’s opposition to asset sales, which was the government’s means to fund the rail investment, meant her party “will not be investing taxpayer dollars into the Adani rail line”.
She said the government decision to take “all financial responsibility for dredging and management of the dredge spoil” for the Abbot Point expansion was unprecedented.
Trad said taxpayers had a right to know the cost and “the fact that the Newman government has kept this figure secret is just simply an outrage”.
Asked about the risk of Galilee coalmines becoming stranded assets, Trad said: “It’s not up to me to be a financial analyst. It is up to the Labor opposition to ensure that the government of the day uses taxpayer funds wisely.”
The government passed laws that stopped all landholders and local councils, except those directly affected, from objecting to mining projects in the land court.
Labor said it would restore this right to others, including environmental activists.
“We take very seriously the community and the public’s role in ensuring that resource development and urban development occurs with the scrutiny of the community,” Trad said.
Trad said Labor would work on “consent-based ways” of restoring its wild rivers laws, repealed by the government, to allow projects including shale gas mining.
Labor would also revisit changes to water management laws that took “Queensland back 30 years”, including the LNP’s scrapping of water licences for coal seam gas operators.
The opposition environment spokeswoman, Jackie Trad, said Labor would abandon the “unprecedented” taxpayer support of Indian mining company Adani shown by the Newman government, which “appeared to be the only investor to date”.
Trad told Guardian Australia of Labor’s plans to roll back three years of “green tape” cuts by the Liberal National party government, including restoring wild rivers protection laws and legal rights for communities and activists to object to mining projects.
She also spoke of giving the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) “the proper resources and independent statutory leadership” to give proper scrutiny to contentious decisions made in favour of large political donors.
Trad said the government was “arrogant and out of control” and had refused to listen to rural landholders’ concerns about mining.
Asked if Labor in power would consider revisiting Newman government decisions involving party donors, Trad said: “We’ll have to take that on board. It’s just not something we have given deep consideration to.”
Trad also stopped short of ruling out altogether Labor support for dredging in Great Barrier Reef waters to expand Adani’s Abbot Point coal port near Bowen.
But she said Labor opposed dredging while financial backing for the project remained up in the air.
“The Queensland Labor party will not be supporting dredging up the Great Barrier Reef for a project that hasn’t received financial closure,” Trad said.
“Why we are dredging the Great Barrier Reef for a port that is currently only operating at 60% capacity, for additional coal exports that are yet to be dug out of the ground, remains a mystery.
“The Newman government must explain what the urgency is, why they are so much in a hurry to dredge up the reef for coal exports that are yet to be dug out of the ground. What is the rush?”
Carmichael would be the largest mine in the Galilee basin, where it is estimated thermal coal – once burned – would far outstrip Australia’s annual total carbon emissions.
Its distance inland means an expensive railway is required to get it to Abbot Point, with the government offering to invest $450m, according to Indian media reports that the government has not confirmed.
Trad said Labor’s opposition to asset sales, which was the government’s means to fund the rail investment, meant her party “will not be investing taxpayer dollars into the Adani rail line”.
She said the government decision to take “all financial responsibility for dredging and management of the dredge spoil” for the Abbot Point expansion was unprecedented.
Trad said taxpayers had a right to know the cost and “the fact that the Newman government has kept this figure secret is just simply an outrage”.
Asked about the risk of Galilee coalmines becoming stranded assets, Trad said: “It’s not up to me to be a financial analyst. It is up to the Labor opposition to ensure that the government of the day uses taxpayer funds wisely.”
The government passed laws that stopped all landholders and local councils, except those directly affected, from objecting to mining projects in the land court.
Labor said it would restore this right to others, including environmental activists.
“We take very seriously the community and the public’s role in ensuring that resource development and urban development occurs with the scrutiny of the community,” Trad said.
Trad said Labor would work on “consent-based ways” of restoring its wild rivers laws, repealed by the government, to allow projects including shale gas mining.
Labor would also revisit changes to water management laws that took “Queensland back 30 years”, including the LNP’s scrapping of water licences for coal seam gas operators.
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