CFMEU warns of ‘revolt’ over net-zero emissions target

The head of the Queensland CFMEU mining division has warned of a regional ‘revolt’ against the major political parties for their ‘chest beating’ over rival net-zero emissions targets.

CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland president Stephen Smyth. Picture: AAP

The head of the Queensland CFMEU mining division has warned of a regional “revolt” against the major political parties at the upcoming federal election for their “chest beating” over rival net-zero emissions targets.

CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland president Stephen Smyth said the Coalition and Labor had taken the resources industry and regional towns for granted in their formulation of net-zero pathways.

The Nationals’ acquiescence to agree to a Coalition policy to adopt a 2050 net-zero target has sparked anger in mining communities, particularly in central Queensland where voters rallied behind the Nationals at the 2019 election due to ambivalence towards the sector from the Labor Party.

“The regions seem to be always told what will happen,” Mr Smyth said. “We’re told you may have a job now but in the future that will change. They’ll have a revolt on their hands if they keep ignoring the regions.

“They go on Q+A and say they’ve been to the regions, but just because you fly into Mackay, Gladstone or Rockhampton and drive around in your car doesn’t mean you’re living in the regions,” Mr Smyth said. “That goes for (all political parties).”

The key factor fuelling the anger was the fear of losing well-paying jobs in the resources sector and the lifeblood of regional towns. “It’s extremely frustrating,” Mr Smyth said.

“The problem is people in this part of the world want a secure job. We should let global demand ­determine where the coal sector goes. I’m still not sold by any political party.

“There’s a lot of chest-beating about who’s doing the best. At the moment we are hearing a lot of wind from politicians but not a lot of substance.”

Mr Smyth said he accepted that the industry needed to change some of its practices in the face of climate change, advocating for carbon capture and storage and low-emissions power generation.

He’s wary of growing talk about hydrogen being the “saviour” that would allow Australia to fuel industry at home and export renewable energy overseas, and he is concerned about what industry would fill the void left by the ­royalty cash cows.

Emerald-based Central Highlands mayor Kerry Hayes, whose region is built around coalmining and beef cattle, said the government’s commitment ahead of the Glasgow climate summit seemed rushed and had caused angst in his community because of sweeping statements about targets and deadlines but little detail on how it would be achieved.

“The overwhelming response is that no one really knows what it means,” Mr Hayes said.

“There’s no detail from anyone, irrespective of the party. They are talking about a date and their time and their commitment that ‘mine is for longer than yours, and mine’s shorter than yours’.

“They are weaselly conversations. It should be about detail. What’s the point of rushing to something in a couple of weeks if we don’t have a sensible base level we are working off?”

It comes after the Nationals’ candidate for the federal seat of Flynn, Colin Boyce, a member in Queensland’s parliament, said he would join central Queensland Nationals senator Matt Canavan and retiring Dawson MP George Christensen in campaigning against the government’s net-zero policy at the next election.

Meanwhile, two anti-coal ­climate activists were arrested on Tuesday after they locked themselves for five hours to a conveyor belt at the Hay Point Coal Terminal in Mackay.