Labor needs a plan to solve Adani impasse

Inaction on the Adani stalemate is playing into the LNP’s hands and will hurt Labor ahead of both of the upcoming council and state elections, writes Sarah Vogler.

POLITICIANS love to draw the proverbial line in the sand whenever they are trying to nix a niggling issue.

And today it is time for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and her Government to pick up a stick and start drawing theirs under a range of issues including the Adani coal mine.

The Federal Election is done and dusted.

If the pollsters were right then Federal Labor is unlikely to have made any major headway in either regional Queensland or the southeast.

Such a result should buoy Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington.

It does not bode well for State Labor.

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Council elections might be the next cab off the rank in March but the State Election is just six months after that – less than 18 months away.

Labor might have a majority in the Parliament now but it is a slim one.

State MPs south of Cairns and north of Bundaberg hold very real fears they will lose their seats to the LNP if the Adani issue is not resolved, fears they voiced to the Premier and their colleagues in caucus this week.

Looking to the Gold Coast to save the Government in the event of a regional rout is a risky strategy. Labor has thrown so much money at the glitter strip but that has failed to translate into more than one seat so far.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk needs to make a plan to solve gathering problem with the Adani mine and the next election. Picture: AAP/Darren England

They will need to do better than that if the LNP manages to pick up Mackay, Rockhampton, Thuringowa and more and potentially win back some in southeast Queensland.

The Government’s attempts to convince voters of their love for the resources industry in the face of an intense campaign by Adani and the Coalition – including full page ads in regional papers across the state – did very little to help their Federal colleagues as they battled to wrest regional seats like Dawson and Capricornia from the LNP and to hold on to the marginal Herbert electorate. If Labor is unable to heal the gaping wound that is its handling of the Adani coal mine soon then the issue could hijack a third election.

There is a fine line between trying to be a small target and appearing indecisive and inactive.

Any environmental kudos Labor might have gained in the southeast via its about face on Adani last election risks being eroded as voters question why this mine is still an issue.

The LNP bombed in regional Queensland in 2017.

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington will profit on Labor’s muddled approach to the Adani mine. Picture: AAP

Ms Frecklington and her team have been focused on rebuilding the brand there ever since.

The longer the Adani saga continues, the easier it will be for the Opposition to regain ground.

Both sides should use this Federal Election as a circuit breaker.

They should look to their front and back benchers and shake things up.

That Queensland still has Minister and a Shadow Minister for the Commonwealth Games more than a year after the athletes collected their medals and headed home is just ludicrous.

Especially given we now have a new department to deal with the human rights issue that is children serving time in watch houses alongside serious adult criminals.

A reshuffle of the Government’s frontbench in particular is not just needed, it is long overdue.