Herbert MP Cathy O’Toole shuts down sledges on Adani “flip-flopping”

Herbert MP Cathy O’Toole has sought to clarify her position on Adani, in a bid to nip ongoing political attacks in the bud.

HERBERT MP Cathy O’Toole has sought to clarify her position on Adani, in a bid to nip ongoing political attacks in the bud.

Speaking on day one of the 37-day Federal Election campaign, Ms O’Toole said Labor was not about “taking jobs away from people”.

“If this project has gone through the processes and the regulatory requirements and it’s passed, as it appears it has, it will go ahead, and it will be good for jobs in this city,” she said.

“I can say, from my experience, and talking to my colleagues, that if the Adani mine is approved, the Adani mine is approved.

“There is no intention whatsoever on Labor’s behalf to put this country at sovereign risk.”

It comes as Coalition politicians seized on an article in The Australian that claimed Ms O’Toole had hung up on a journalist when asked about the Adani mine.

Minister for Northern Australia Matt Canavan said this “demonstrates her lack of commitment to this region”.

LNP candidate for Herbert Phil Thompson used Ms O’Toole’s perceived lack of position on Adani as a point of difference.

“You won’t see me taking a backwards step or backflipping on big projects that benefit this region, like Adani, opening up the Galilee Basin,” he said.

Ms O’Toole rubbished the article as “fictitious” and said she had simply passed her phone to a media advisor because she needed to rush into a pre-scheduled meeting.

“As I have said loudly and clearly on numerous occasions, the State Government needs to get out of the way of North Queensland,” she said.

“We will determine what jobs we want not people from the green leafy suburbs of Melbourne or Sydney or the southeast corner.”

The final approvals for Adani’s mine, largely viewed as the “key” to unlocking the Galilee Basin, is in the hands of the State Government.

Originally published as Herbert MP Cathy O’Toole shuts down sledges on Adani “flip-flopping”