Anthony Albanese ‘backflip’ on Queensland mine visit

Anthony Albanese has been ­accused of backflipping on plans to visit a coalmine in his tour of Queensland next week.

Outspoken Labor backbencher Joel Fitzgibbon during question time on Thursday. Picture: Getty Images

Anthony Albanese has been ­accused of backflipping on plans to visit a coalmine in his tour of Queensland next week as the Labor leader moves to put workers’ rights at the centre of his pitch in the resources-reliant state.

The Australian has been told the Opposition Leader is unlikely to fit a coalmine into his Queensland tour because it was not able to be aligned with the rest of his schedule, which includes announcing a key industrial relations policy in Brisbane.

But CFMEU NSW northern mining and energy president Peter Jordan said he had been told by union members that Mr Albanese was planning to go to BHP’s Goonyella Riverside Mine in the Bowen Basin.

Mr Jordan said he had been told Mr Albanese would visit the coalmine next Wednesday with Queensland resources spokesman Murray Watt and industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke.

“It would be pretty disappointing if the leader of the Labor Party doesn’t bother to find time in his schedule to visit a coalmine and correct what people have been saying: that Labor is not supportive of the coal industry,” Mr Jordan said.

“If they can’t find a mine in Queensland to visit I would be happy to see if we can organise a delegation to visit mines in the Hunter Valley.”

Mr Albanese is expected to ­unveil an industrial relations policy on Wednesday, when Mr Jordan thought he was going to a coalmine. The policy will be aimed around security of work and addressing Labor’s concerns over the casualisation of the workforce.

It comes after another cloak-and-dagger meeting of the so-called Otis Group in Canberra on Wednesday night. Former Labor leader Bill Shorten attended the private dinner at the Wild Duck restaurant, organised by Right faction heavyweight Don Farrell and outspoken backbencher Joel Fitzgibbon.

Former Labor leader Bill Shorten in parliament. Picture: Gary Ramage

More than a dozen Labor politicians attended the clandestine meeting, including Clare O’Neil, Daniel Mulino, Meryl Swanson, Deborah O’Neil, Anthony Chisholm, Shayne Neumann and Kimberley Kitching.

Labor sources say West Australian MPs Matt Keogh and Anne Aly would have been at the dinner if the COVID had not forced them home, while other Otis-friendly politicians who were not able to make it were Helen Polley, Raff Ciccone, David Smith and Luke Gosling.

Otis sources say, while not all members were unhappy with Mr Albanese, the group had increasingly attracted MPs who believed the party needed to be taken in a different direction.

The Otis Group first made waves last February when a swath of Labor’s Right faction were caught dining at the Kingston ­institution, Otis Dining Hall.

Those gathered, according to Mr Farrell, were “good solid Labor people”, interested in pursuing policies that would move the party to the right on resources and energy.