Editorial: Indigenous voice of reason on Adani

The kind of common sense spoken by an Aboriginal elder is what’s missing from the tortured, politically charged game-playing by state politicians.

IT’S almost a cliche that First Australians who hold native title rights over certain land holdings oppose most developments that are proposed in these parts of the country.

Of course, this is not always the case, and there are plenty of examples where local indigenous clans have long-standing agreements with mining companies.

These have supported the employment of indigenous people – although big miners can and should do more on this front – and reaped millions in payments and royalties for local communities.

This makes remarks by Colin McLennan, an elder with the Jangga people, less surprising than some might suggest.

Mr McLennan has a blunt warning for the Palaszczuk Government, arguing it could be “like war” if the Adani development at Carmichael near Clermont in central Queensland is stopped.

The message for the state Labor administration is very simple – development in the Galilee Basin is much bigger than the Adani mine, with five other mining proposals in the pipeline with the potential for thousands of desperately needed jobs.

It comes as exclusive polling in today’s Courier-Mail reveals anti-Adani protests, led by Bob Brown, has actually made one-third of voters less likely to vote Green.

Mr McLennan’s ire has been provoked by an 11th-hour move – some say sabotage – by the Queensland Government to throw yet another environmental hurdle that the company must deal with.

Revisiting the state of health for the black-throated finch – surely the most cosseted bird in Queensland history – is a green tape joke.

As Mr McLennan says, the mine site makes up a tiny proportion of what is about 30,000ha of land, which provides plenty of room for the finch to nest, live and prosper without being threatened by the mine itself.

Clearly, as someone who has a closer affinity with the land than West End hipsters, Mr McLennan has a simple solution for those who are getting anxious and alarmed about the poor finch.

“You just can’t harp on about the black-throated finch when people can just breed them,” Mr McLennan says.

“So what’s the problem?”

This kind of common sense is what’s missing from the tortured, politically charged game-playing by state politicians and Greens elder statesman Bob Brown.

Let’s build on the magic

IF RUGBY league officialdom is guilty of one thing it is failing to update and innovate their product in an effort to attract bigger crowds to the game.

The standard bearer in sports promotion has for years been the AFL. The Victorian bosses of the AFL have long understood that if they give the fans the contests they want, when they want them then they will reap the rewards.

For example, the introduction of a Collingwood versus Essendon game on Anzac Day has been a runaway success, drawing huge crowds. However, the NRL can now proudly boast that it has beaten the AFL at its own game with the introduction of the “Magic Round”, which was played at Suncorp Stadium over the weekend.

There was scepticism about the concept of playing all eight figures at the one stadium and criticism that it risked cheapening fixtures that effectively became curtain-raisers to other matches.

However, the 134,677 aggregate crowd over the four-day festival of football debunked any of the doubts.

Even the crowds at the fixtures between two NSW teams were bigger than what most of the combatants would have achieved at their home ground.

These numbers certainly justify the investment made by the State Government and Brisbane City Council to bring the Magic Round to Brisbane.

There is already speculation emanating out of Sydney that the concept could be moved south and potentially spread across two venues when the city’s new stadiums are eventually completed.

However, given the consistently poor NRL crowds in that city, such a move would be foolhardy.

The fans who travelled from the south, as well as from across Queensland, to see their team play and take in the spectacle of other top flight rugby league during this unprecedented event also proved that Suncorp Stadium remains the best rectangle football stadium in Australia.

We must fight to keep Magic Round when the three-year contract expires, but also use our know-how and portfolio of quality sporting infrastructure to lure other in-demand events to the Sunshine State.