Queensland election: Palaszczuk pulled the pin after anti-Adani push polls

Anti-Adani protesters were busy push-polling voters before the Queensland Premier pulled the pin on a loan.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in Brisbane yesterday. Picture: AAP

The anti-Adani protest movement was push-polling Queensland electorates about a state veto of a potential $1 billion commonwealth loan to the Indian conglomerate in the days before Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk called the election.

The poll by ReachTel, which also does work for the Labor Party, was undertaken and reported about the time Labor figures claim to have heard of a pending smear campaign by Canberra conservatives that Ms Palaszczuk later cited as her reason for seeking a veto. The veto came 10 days after ReachTel asked leading questions of 1652 people.

 

“The Queensland Premier made an election commitment that her Labor government would not spend public funds on Adani’s private rail line for their coalmine,” pollsters said on the night of October 24.

“Do you agree or disagree that the Queensland government should keep its promise and use its power of veto to rule out any taxpayer funded loan of $1bn to Adani going ahead?”

Not surprisingly, 68.6 per cent agreed, although only 35.9 per cent said that if the government “breaks this promise” it would ­likely change their vote.

Since announcing on Friday that she would seek a veto of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility loan, Ms Palaszczuk has said repeatedly that it honours a 2015 election commitment that taxpayers not fund the project. That is despite her government ­facilitating the project and telling the commonwealth it would not stand in the way.

The Stop Adani campaign has links to GetUp!, which has taken credit for the veto and has now turned its attention to the LNP and One Nation over their support for the mine.

Ms Palaszczuk has said she understands the loan is unpopular — Deputy Premier and left faction leader Jackie Trad has actively sought green votes off the back of a veto — but denied knowing of Labor polling said to show it was even unpopular in the regions.

In the northern mining hub of Townsville, Labor Mayor Jenny Hill criticised the veto yesterday as LNP leader Tim Nicholls met her to outline his party’s position.

“I make no bones about it, I am disappointed in the decision of the Palaszczuk government to veto that, but it doesn’t mean the project’s dead,” said Ms Hill, who also stopped short of endorsing Ms Palaszczuk as the next premier.

“Adani has stated time and time again that they are able to continue with this project whether or not NAIF funding is an option.

“What we need to do now is get some clarity around all the different political agendas.”

Mr Nicholls was in Townsville for the second time in a week yesterday and accused Ms Palaszczuk of pandering to inner-city voters.

“The sad reality is that north Queensland has been suffering under Annastacia Palaszczuk and Labor for far too long,” Mr Nicholls said. “The three Townsville MPs up here are nothing more than doormats for the Greens and Labor coalition coming out of inner-city Brisbane.

“I want to tell the people of north Queensland, in all of those centres that will benefit from the Carmichael mine, that a Nicholls LNP government will not stand in the way of NAIF funding to see that project go ahead.”

Ms Palaszczuk, campaigning in the southeast, denied the controversy had derailed Labor’s campaign “because, as I said very clearly, we support the project, it needs to stack up financially, independently, it needs to stand on its own two feet”.

“The people of Queensland do not want to see taxpayers’ money used to go to a billionaire,” she said.