Labor rift deepens over Adani coal mine

Richard Marles says thermal coal’s collapse would be “good” as he refuses to back a pro-Adani CFMEU campaign.

Shadow minister for defence, Richard Marles MP in Townsville. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Labor frontbencher Richard Marles says the collapse of thermal coal — which earned Australia $25 billion last year — would be “a good thing”, as he refused to back a CFMEU campaign calling for Queensland Labor MPs to endorse the Adani coal mine.

Despite strong global demand for thermal coal, Mr Marles told Sky News that the world market for the commodity had “collapsed”.

“The global market for thermal coal has collapsed, and at one level — that’s a good thing — because what that implies is the world is acting in relation to climate change,” the Opposition defence spokesman and close ally of Bill Shorten said.

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“There are lots of ways in which you can generate employment. But the important statement here is that no public money is going to be spent on it.”

Mr Marles said Labor’s position on Adani was clear — that no public money should be spent on the mine.

“And where it goes from there is where it goes,” he said.

“But I think we know that without public money in this space it is unlikely to go ahead, and that I think is the end of it.”

Australia’s export earnings from thermal coal rose to $25.8b in 2018, according to ABS international trade figures.

According to the IEA, the thermal coal market is forecast to remain stable over the next five years, as declining demand in Europe and North America is offset by strong growth in India and Southeast Asia.

Resources Minister Matt Canavan said Mr Marles had revealed Labor’s “true colours” on the coal industry.

“They want to shut down Australia’s biggest export industry and cost more than 50,000 Australians their jobs,” Senator Canavan told The Australian.

“This is not just about Adani. The Labor Party is now actively saying they want to see Australia’s coal industry shut down.

“How can Labor’s shadow Minister for Defence support our national interest when he is a cheerleader against our nation’s biggest export?

“Richard Marles also is flat out wrong. Coal markets are surging. Coal prices are at record highs, helping to support the budget, and last year set a new global record for electricity generated by coal.”

Labor is increasingly split over Adani’s proposed Carmichael coalmine in central Queensland. Labor frontbencher Brendan O’Connor said coal would have a future under a Shorten government.

“We are supporters of coal being part of the energy mix for this country. It’s an important fuel, and it will always make up (part of) a mix under an incoming Labor government.”

He also reiterated Labor’s policy on Adani - that it must stack up environmentally and financially, and it should not receive public funding.

“People have different views in every political party. The fact is that Labor’s policy is very clear. It hasn’t changed, won’t change, and we have made that clear,” Mr O’Connor said.

“People are allow to have different opinions. The fact is you reconcile those, you outline a policy and you stick with it. That’s what we’ve done.”

Opposition Senate Leader Penny Wong distanced herself from Mr Marles’ comments on the global outlook for thermal coal, saying: “coal prices are a matter for international markets”.

“On Adani, we’ve always made it clear that the project has to stack up. It has to stack up environmentally and it has to stack up financially. And we’ve made clear we wouldn’t be putting taxpayer funds into it”.

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek says it is a “simple economic fact” the world is moving away from coal and how she “feels” about coal does not matter, after her frontbench colleague Richard Marles says the death of thermal coal would be “wonderful.”

“The first thing to say about coal is it’s not about how we feel about coal, it’s not the vibe,” she said at Canberra’s National Press Club today.

“There is a simple economic fact that the world is moving away from coal-fired power generation, it’s becoming increasingly expensive, we’ve recognised that global warming is a problem, we want to reduce our pollution, some countries are worried about the air quality in their cities.

“However you look at it, this is a change that is happening not just in our economy, but around the world. And how I feel about it is not the relevant issue. It is back to the data. The data shows us that renewables are becoming cheaper all the time.”

Mining unions are ramping up pressure for political support for the project, which would open up the massive Galilee coal basin.

The federal opposition’s hopes that the project would be off the political agenda before the election were blown, when the Palas­zczuk government stalled the proposed mine with an 11th-hour review of the company’s strategy to protect the endangered black-throated finch.

The Australian reported this morning that Mr Shorten’s mentor, former union leader Bill Ludwig, has blamed a “few lefties’’ within Queensland’s Labor government for politicising the Adani coalmine and backed the CFMEU’s threatened campaign against federal ALP candidates who refuse to support the project.

Additional reporting: Richard Ferguson, Joe Kelly