Hands off Adani, militant mining union tells Shorten

The militant mining union has warned Bill Shorten against taking action that could jeopardise Adani.

When asked if Labor would review the federal environmental approvals of Adani if elected, a spokesman said it was “extraordinary” Ms Price approved the mine after being threatened by her colleagues. Picture: AAP

The mining union has warned Bill Shorten against taking any action that could jeopardise the Adani coalmine ahead of a campaign stop today in north Queensland where the issue threatens to cost Labor the Townsville-based seat of Herbert.

The Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union warning comes as Labor headquarters appears open to the prospect of revisiting the Adani approval process as it questions whether Environment Minister Melissa Price gave the mine a green light after being bullied by colleagues.

When asked yesterday if Labor would review the federal environmental approvals of Adani if it won the election, a spokesman said it was “extraordinary” Ms Price approved the mine after being threatened by her colleagues.

“The public needs to know how this came about and whether the alleged bullying of minister Price influenced her decision on the approval of groundwater management plan for Adani,” he said.

The statement came despite Labor MP Cathy O’Toole, whose ultra-marginal seat of Herbert takes in Townsville, vowing “hand on heart” that federal Labor would not change the mine’s approvals.

CFMEU mining and energy Queensland president Steve Smyth said Mr Shorten would be “crazy” to review the federal ­approvals of the mine, which is yet to be ticked-off by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

Mr Smyth last month warned that the union would campaign against candidates after the Queensland Labor government delayed the Adani coalmine with an 11th hour review of an environmental management plan.

“If the federal government has approved it based on the science and based on the evidence before it, then just get on with it,” Mr Smyth said. “Accept it and get on with it. We don’t need any more delays. There will probably be other mines in Queensland announced by the time Adani gets off the ground. It just keeps going on and on and on.”

The Opposition Leader’s campaign in central and northern Queensland kicks off in Townsville today with significant questions remaining about Labor’s attitude to the mine.

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek dodged questions at the weekend over whether a Shorten government would put the environmental approvals of the mine back under scrutiny. “I think it’s disturbing that the Environment Minister should sign documents in the last minutes of a government, under pressure from her colleagues, under threat that she would no longer be the minister if the government was re-elected and she hadn’t signed. I am troubled by the process here,” Ms Plibersek told ABC radio.

“There are quite a few hurdles, I suppose, for this project still to jump, including things like the state government has some ­approvals that it still needs to give.

“There isn’t a final agreement on royalties as far as I understand, and what we’ve seen from this project is substantial delays and missed deadlines and in many cases over-inflated propositions about the number of jobs that will be created as well.”

Mr Smyth said Labor can­didates in the Coalition-held ­regional seats of Dawson, Flynn and Capricornia have all promised to sign a pledge of support for the project by next week.

Capricornia candidate Russell Robertson was the first to sign the pledge, revealed in The Australian this month, while Dawson candidate Belinda Hassan signed last Thursday. Flynn candidate Zac Beers is due to sign the CFMEU pledge tomorrow.

Ms Hassan has conceded there could be a review of the approvals under a Shorten government. “The water licence does seem to have been pushed through very quickly right before the election, so there may be some looking at that to make sure it was done with due process,” she said last week.

Mr Shorten’s trip to regional Queensland will coincide with the “stop-Adani convoy” travelling through the state, led by Greens founder Bob Brown.

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane attacked inconsistent messaging about whether a Shorten government would review the approval.