Adani chief Lucas Dow ‘emboldened’ after meeting with Palaszczuk government
Lucas Dow says a meeting with senior Palaszczuk government bureaucrats was a “positive step”.
Adani’s Australian boss Lucas Dow is “emboldened’’ after a meeting today with senior Palaszczuk government bureaucrats over the ongoing delays in the state approvals that have stalled the project.
The meeting was ordered by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk after she refused for months to intervene, and only in the wake of her government’s handling of the project being blamed for federal Labor’s wipe-out in regional Queensland at the weekend election.
Ms Palaszczuk performed a stunning backflip on Wednesday, claiming she was “fed up” with her government-forced delays to the Carmichael mine, in central Queensland, which threatened to delay the project by up to five years.
Until last week, Ms Palaszczuk and her deputy, Jackie Trad — who has led a Left factional internal revolt against the mine getting the green light — has refused to even answer letters from Mr Dow asking for a meeting.
Ms Palaszczuk has ordered her government environmental officials, and led by the Co-ordinator General, to set a Friday deadline for a timeline for approvals.
After the meeting this morning, Mr Dow said the talks were productive.
“Today’s meeting was constructive and a positive step,’’ he said in a statement.
“We have been asking for clarity of timing and process for more than seven months now, and we are now more confident than ever that we will receive it.
“There are a couple of elements to finalise with the Co-ordinator General and I will be doing that this afternoon and tomorrow morning.
“Assuming that all goes to plan, the Premier will be in a position to publish the process and time frames formally.
“Whilst we are working through the final details we believe the time frames discussed to date are sensible and achievable.
“Ultimately however, actions speak louder than words.
“We look forward to the Co-ordinator General working to ensure that the agreed time frames are met.
“We are not being pig-headed about finalising these plans and will work with state government officials as quickly as possible in order to move forward.
“DES has been reviewing these environmental management plans for over two years now.’’
Earlier, Ms Trad, who heads the dominant Left faction and is known to harbour leadership ambitions, insisted she will not challenge Ms Palaszczuk, amid internal turmoil over the Adani issue.
On ABC radio, Ms Trad — who is facing a tough struggle to hold her inner-city seat of South Brisbane with surging support for The Greens — denied she would try to roll Ms Palaszczuk for the premiership or shift into a safer seat ahead of next year’s state election.
“I will be contesting the seat of South Brisbane at the next state election,” she told ABC Radio in Brisbane this morning.
Asked whether she would challenge Ms Palaszczuk for the leadership before the poll, Ms Trad said: “That’s just a little bit ridiculous, can I say, and the answer to that is an emphatic no”.
Under Labor’s rules, a change of state leader requires not only the support of the parliamentary caucus, but the party’s wider membership and union movement.
The Australian revealed this morning that Treasurer Ms Trad has been moving to fortify her position as Deputy Premier, in the wake of federal Labor’s primary vote crashing at the federal poll and an internal revolt over Adani.
Yesterday, Ms Palaszczuk backflipped on Adani, insisting she was “fed up” with her own government’s moves to delay the proposed Carmichael coal mine’s environmental approvals.
Ms Trad today said she “fully supports” Ms Palaszczuk’s move, but stopped short of specifically backing the Adani mine to go ahead.
“I want long-term secure jobs in regional Queensland and all over Queensland … and if that comes in the thermal coal sector, then that needs to happen,” she said.
“But let me also say this. We’ve got an obligation — because the federal government signed us up to the Paris agreement which I fully support — and under the Paris agreement, we have to be moving to lower our emissions. And that means, keeping carbon in the ground. That means not bulldozing native vegetation, it means moving to renewable energy, which we are doing.”
Ms Trad said voters in her electorate of South Brisbane were “desperately concerned” about climate change, “as I am”.
“But they also want the services, they also want a stronger economy, they want a whole range of things,” Ms Trad said.
She said Australia’s environmental laws were “deficient” because they did not take climate change into consideration.