'I'm not going to be bullied': Bill Shorten warns on Adani

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says he will not be "bullied" by unions or environmental activists on Adani's Carmichael coal mine, while refusing to rule out a review of the Morrison government's decision to approve the project.

"What I will do is work with all of those interests, but I won't be the servant of any of those interests," Mr Shorten told reporters while campaigning in the Queensland town of Gladstone on Tuesday.

Bill Shorten says he will not be "bullied" on Adani. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

"We will adhere to the science, the law, we won't create sovereign risk."

The Labor leader said he would not sign a pledge being circulated by the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union outlining support for coal jobs because, unlike his candidate for the local seat of Flynn - Zac Beers, who has signed - "I'm running for Prime Minister".

In Townsville, Labor member for Herbert Cathy O'Toole said she had not seen the pledge, which the union first demanded all federal election candidates sign in February.

"I have not seen that pledge, so I cannot make any comment on that at all," Ms O'Toole said.

However, she has signed a pledge drafted by the local business community declaring support for "the immediate opening of the Galilee Basin and jobs for North Queensland".

The union has threatened to campaign against Labor in Queensland coal seats if candidates do not sign its pledge.

Labor's candidate for Capricornia, third-generation coal miner Russell Robertson, was the first to comply.

Asked if she was frustrated by Mr Shorten's refusal to rule out a review of the Adani project's federal approval, Ms O'Toole said she had been "too focussed on doing my job here lately".

"I know that the Labor Party is very clear and we will make sure that proper science, proper legal processes are followed," she said.

"My job is to focus on the needs of people here in this community. I can say I have had nothing but support from the leadership team of the Labor Party."

Ms O'Toole said she would work to ensure that Townsville voters get their "fair share".

"It's critically important that we get a piece of the action, that we are in the mix for the jobs of the future, the industries of the future - and that's exactly I have been doing."

CFMMEU national secretary Tony Maher said there was no need for the federal approval to be reviewed while dismissing talk of divisions between the Labor Party and his union, saying the Adani debate had been "blown out of proportion".

Mr Maher said he was in discussions with workers, environmentalists and Adani about the project and the company was "not worried about Labor's approach".

"If it stacks up, it will go ahead ... It's not the only coal mine in Queensland," he told ABC Radio National.

"We want a transparent process, otherwise these things become political footballs."

Mr Maher said mining projects should not be decided on the basis of whether they were electorally popular or unpopular.

"That's not a way to run a resources industry," he said.