Adani mine: Anthony Albanese still won’t answer questions

New Labor leader Anthony Albanese refuses to say whether he supported Adani’s proposed Carmichael mine.

New Labor leader Anthony Albanese in Caboolture today. Picture: AAP

New Labor leader Anthony Albanese yesterday refused to say whether he supported Adani’s proposed Carmichael mine or whether the party’s ambiguous position on the project contributed to Labor’s thumping in Queensland at the federal election.

The Sydney-based Left faction leader embarked on a one-day ­“listening tour” of Queensland to find out what went wrong for Labor but said his stance on the Adani mine had not changed. He still insisted the mine needed to stack up environmentally and be free of political interference.

Current and former Labor MPs and powerbrokers have criticised the party over its shifting position on the mine, including re-elected Blair MP Shane Neumann, who said the issue had “hurt us badly in central and north Queensland”.

Labor won just over 27 per cent of the primary vote in Queensland and lost two seats, including Longman, north of Brisbane, where Mr Albanese met yesterday with ousted MP Susan Lamb.

“We need to make sure those (environmental) approvals are based on science, not based on politics. I’ve been consistent about this the whole way through,” Mr Albanese said in Caboolture.

Anthony Albanese with former Labor Member for Longman Susan Lamb. Picture: AAP

Massive swings against Labor saw the Coalition improve its support in regional electorates and led to the loss of the Townsville seat of Herbert. Former Herbert MP Cathy O’Toole, who failed to clearly articulate whether she supported the mine, conceded on election night the Adani issue did not help her re-election bid.

On Monday, Mr Albanese avoided saying whether he supported the project by questioning the “economics” and “cost-benefit ratios” of Adani’s mine and other Galilee Basin projects.

He said he did not support a “subsidised railway line” to the Carmichael mine, despite taxpayer funding being ruled out by the Queensland government during the 2017 state election campaign when Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk vetoed a proposed $1 billion federal loan to Adani.

An Adani spokeswoman yesterday said the rail line and scaled-back mine, which was last year downsized from a $16.5bn investment to a $2bn project, was “economically robust” and self-funded: “We announced last year that the Carmichael mine and rail project will be 100 per cent financed through the Adani Group’s resources. Not a cent of taxpayer dollars will go to the delivery of the Carmichael project.”

Mr Albanese also claimed yesterday that Adani had missed self-imposed deadlines throughout the mine’s development. He said the federal Labor opposition would review all of its ­policies and define new proposals ahead of the 2022 election. He planned for Queensland MPs to be given “significant roles” within the party but would not pre-empt the caucus processes by ­announcing roles.