Labor shafts itself on coal mine conundrum after ‘unhelpful’ MP comments

Labor’s federal leadership has attacked Adani’s promised employment opportunities as “fake jobs” as Queensland MPs split on the mega coal mine.

LABOR’S federal leadership has attacked Adani’s promised employment opportunities as “fake jobs” as Queensland MPs yesterday split on the mega coal mine.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is now facing the threat of a damaging ideological fight set to undermine his bid to win crucial seats in the state.

Just a week after Labor was left politically exposed on asylum seekers, Queensland’s Left federal MP Terri Butler last night aligned herself with Victorian and NSW MPs, splitting from Queensland Caucus colleagues, who tried to provide a united front on Adani and thermal coal mining.

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“I’ve been on the record opposing it,” Ms Butler told The Courier-Mail.

“I don’t support the project. My views haven’t changed.”

Mr Shorten was forced to rein in Victorian frontbencher Richard Marles for claiming it was “a good thing” global coal markets were collapsing.

Terri Butler in Question Time in the House of Representatives Chamber at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

“What that implies is that the world is reacting to the impact of climate change,’’ Mr Marles said on Sky News yesterday. “The economic case for opening up the Galilee Basin isn’t now what it was a decade ago.”

Annoyed Labor colleagues privately unleashed on Mr Marles, saying his comments were not helpful with Labor hoping to win Capricornia and Flynn, marginal central Queensland seats with a high number of voters who work in the mining industry.

“Let’s hope that Richard Marles knows more about defence, because he clearly knows nothing about regional Queensland,” a Queensland Labor source said. But as Mr Marles backtracked and issued an apology, saying “coal clearly has an important and enduring role to play”, Ms Butler’s key Left ally and deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek at the National Press Club dismissed the claimed prosperity Adani could bring.

Richard Marles with Bill Shorten during during Question Time in the House of Representatives in the House of Representatives in Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Gary Ramage

She said the company was overstating its ability to generate jobs, while Labor was planning to generate jobs in infrastructure, tourism, construction and agriculture.

“The evidence that we’ve seen so far are that the jobs claims of Adani are vastly overstated,” she said.

“That is really important because that is real jobs, it is not the fake job promises that Adani keeps making and then letting us down on.” Senator Anthony Chisholm responded on behalf of the Queensland Labor Federal Caucus, saying they’d support the mine’s development if it stacked up commercially and environmentally.

Mr Shorten said he understood the importance of coal jobs.

“Mining has a future – not just coal but the exports of the future like hydrogen, lithium and rare earth minerals. We are always going to be a great mining exporter and I want that to continue,” he said. “I’m also a strong supporter of renewables because I know it will deliver cheaper power and more jobs for Australians.”

The first heavy equipment arrives at Adani's Labona Camp in central western Queensland to commence construction on Carmichael Mine. Picture: Cameron Laird

The Morrison Government seized on Mr Marles’s comments, denouncing his comments as factually wrong, and questioned why Labor would want to deprive Queensland of jobs. Scott Morrison said Mr Marles was rooting for the death of an industry that supported 55,000 jobs. Resources Minister Matt Canavan said Mr Marles was “hopelessly wrong” because coal markets were not collapsing.

Flynn candidate Zac Beers, the only preselected Labor candidate to respond to questions, said people in the region were desperate for jobs and the mine should go ahead.

Queensland Treasurer and fellow Labor Left MP Jackie Trad backed Mr Marles’s initial comments, arguing thermal coal was in decline globally and it was time to move on. “If we turn a blind eye to this then we are basically kicking this can down the road and that is exactly what the Federal Government is doing,” she said.