Anthony Albanese says he welcomes jobs Adani coal mine would create
Labor leader attempts to win over regional Queenslanders who turned off the party at the May election.
Anthony Albanese has declared he would “welcome” any Adani coalmine jobs as he begins a four-day road trip through regional Queensland at the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party.
Attempting to rebuild following Labor’s disastrous election result in Queensland, where the party won just six of the 30 seats, the Opposition Leader said he would back any projects that created jobs for Queenslanders if they met environmental approvals and secured finance.
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Asked if he would welcome the jobs and investment if Adani’s controversial project went ahead, Mr Albanese said: “I welcome jobs for Queenslanders in whatever project they are, it is as simple as that. The fact is that Adani has received its environmental approvals”.
Speaking from Barcaldine, Mr Albanese said more jobs were needed in regional Queensland to arrest high rates of unemployment.
“What we need to do as a commonwealth government, is we get to determine environmental approvals along with state government approvals. Once that is done it is up to the private sector to determine whether they will make that investment and the company is saying they will self-finance,” Mr Albanese said.
“The truth is that unemployment in outback Queensland and regional Queensland is higher than it is in terms of the national figures.”
But he fell short of embracing more coalmines in the Galilee Basin, which would create jobs for people in a drought-stricken region that has suffered population declines of 12.5 per cent since 2007.
Mr Albanese also refused to take up a challenge from Resources Minister Matt Canavan and say the words “I support Adani”.
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten hailed the potential jobs from the Adani project in 2017 but backflipped a year later and declared he did not support the project in the heat of a by-election battle with the Greens for the Melbourne seat of Batman.
Mr Shorten remained ambivalent about the project during the 2019 election campaign, which the Labor campaign review deemed cost the party votes in Queensland and the NSW Hunter Valley.
Mr Albanese on Tuesday visited the Tree of Knowledge site in Barcadline, which is 11 hours northwest of Brisbane, before meeting party members further east in Emerald.
The heritage-listed tree was a regular meeting site during the Shearers’ Strike on 1891, and the following year a manifesto of the Queensland Labour Party was read on the site. The manifesto precipitated the formation of the ALP.
The town of about 1400 people has been suffering drought for more than eight years which has decimated its traditional wool and cattle industries and led to population declines.
Barcaldine mayor Rob Chandler, the father of a coalminer, said opening up the Galilee Basin would bring jobs and opportunity to central west Queensland.
Mr Chandler said the seven councils in the region were “supporting probably 40 per cent of the population” though direct and indirect employment because the drought had hit agriculture.
“As long as it stacks up environmentally and financially and all the graziers are compensated and good water agreements are in place, then we will be happy,” Mr Chandler said.
“And we would love to see our communities have a windfall from having the Galilee Basin opened up.”
Senator Canavan said Mr Albanese was “trying to have a lend”.
“He won’t fight back against the Greenies who are attacking coal mines like Adani,” he said.
Mr Albanese said the Tree of Knowledge “symbol” was an important part of Labor’s history.
“It is important to recognise that while some people in the southern states think that somehow Queensland isn’t capable of supporting Labor, the truth is we have been in government for 20 of the last 25 years in this great state of Queensland,” Mr Albanese said.
Mr Albanese will also visit Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Maryborough and Gympie.