CFMEU leader cold on Anthony Albanese’s new team

CFMEU official casts doubt on whether Albanese’s new team can win government after a shadow cabinet reshuffle.

The CFMEU’s Peter Jordan. Picture: Peter Stoop

A senior CFMEU official has criticised Anthony Albanese’s pick for resources spokeswoman and questioned whether his team can win government after a shadow cabinet reshuffle aimed at healing divisions within the labour movement on climate policy.

CFMEU NSW northern mining and energy president Peter Jordan welcomed the removal of Mark Butler from the energy portfolio but was less than impressed with West Australian Right MP Madeleine King becoming resources spokeswoman.

Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon also said Labor’s new climate change spokesman, Chris Bowen, has “got his training wheels on”, after the NSW Right frontbencher did not endorse building a gas-fired generator in the NSW Hunter Valley.

Mr Jordan, who has previously pushed back against calls to replace Mr Albanese, warned Labor was at risk of losing three seats in the Hunter Valley, and miners in the region believed Labor was tied to the Greens.

“I won’t criticise Albo but I don’t think Albo’s leadership and the team he has assembled around him is going to deliver Labor government,” Mr Jordan said.

He said he “had to Google (Ms King) to find out what she looked like” and said there had not been sufficient consultation with the union over the appointment.

“Albo reckons he has nailed it; like hell he has,” he said. “Albo basically tells us ‘I’ve got Madeleine King for the job’. We don’t get to put a view. You either have to cop her or not.

“I just can’t understand how someone like Madeleine King, shadow resources minister, is going to rebuild the damage that has been done here on the east coast in the coal industry.

“We had the ideal person; we had Joel (Fitzgibbon) endeavouring to repair the damage that was done in the last federal election in these local electorates. “Joel is gone but he wakes up everyday in coal country and Madeleine King is going to wake up in Perth. I just can’t understand the logic of that.”

While the construction division of the CFMEU has been hostile ­towards Mr Albanese because of his role in forcing John Setka out of the party, the mining and ­energy divisions have been long-term allies of the Opposition ­Leader.

Pro-resources Labor MPs were supportive of Ms King being installed in the portfolio on top of her trade responsibilities, arguing she had been a consistent supporter of the resources industry, including the coal sector.

Ms King co-sponsored a proposed amendment last month to Labor’s draft policy platform to ­include a supportive reference to the coal sector. The amendment, pushed by Paterson MP Meryl Swanson, was rejected by Left faction senator Jenny McAllister ­because it was lodged a day late.

Ms King said she supported the coal industry “and the jobs it ­creates for Australians”.

“In 2019, I had the great pleasure of visiting the Bloomfield coalmine and the Hunter Valley coal chain with Meryl Swanson, the local federal MP who is the daughter of a coalminer,” Ms King said.

“In my new role as shadow minister for resources, I will continue to consult with coal companies and trade unions as part of broader discussions with the resources sector and key stakeholders.”

Mr Bowen said he would not bow to pressure from Mr Fitzgibbon to adopt the Morrison government’s 2030 emissions reduction targets.