No Adani ban on my watch: Chris Bowen
Labor would allow the Adani mine to proceed, Chris Bowen says, because blocking it would raise concerns of sovereign risk.
A Labor government would allow the Adani coalmine in Queensland to proceed, Treasury spokesman Chris Bowen says because a decision to block it would raise concerns of sovereign risk.
Mr Bowen told an audience of Labor supporters at the Chifley Oration on Monday night that while he understood the “passion” of the argument about the project, it was no longer the environmental threat of the original proposal. “Adani was to have been the largest coalmine in Australia but it is now far from that,” he said, with several mines in its vicinity considerably larger.
“I believe in protection against sovereign risk, and of all the things I’ve prioritised spending money on in my first budget as Labor treasurer, if it proceeds, providing compensation for Adani for a breach of contract and breach of law is not one of them.
“I don’t want to give a dollar to Adani.”
Mr Bowen said he also gave consideration to the employment that would be generated by the project. “I’ve spent a lot of time in central Queensland and I understand the employment challenges there.” He said the jobless rate in the Bowen Basin, where the project was located, was “unacceptably high”.
Coal Council chief executive Greg Evans yesterday hailed the latest trade report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing coal was Australia’s largest single export last year, earning $66.2 billion, ahead of the $62bn raised by iron ore. “The export performance is a resounding rebuttal of coal detractors who have repeatedly called the end of this iconic industry due to falling demand,” he said.
Coal export sales rose 15.9 per cent, buoyed by strong prices for both thermal coal, used to generate electricity, and metallurgical coal, used to manufacture steel.
Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter, accounting for about 36 per cent of global trade.
The trade report shows China, which is the principal market for all major commodity exports, is now taking 34 per cent of Australia’s goods exports while providing 24 per cent of its imports.
China is also the biggest market for the export of Australian services, such as education and tourism.
Exports of goods to China rose by 18 per cent, while imports were up 16.5 per cent.
