Resource development projects vital for jobs and growth in the north would grind to a halt if Labor and the Greens formed an alliance after the July 2 election, Northern Australia Minister Matt Canavan warned today.
Senator Canavan said the Greens had put a price on their support for the Labor party if there was a hung Parliament after the election.
“Greens leader Richard Di Natale has said the Greens would demand no new coal mines be built, so forget about the Adani Carmichael project, plus they want fuel tax rebates for offroad use stopped and that would devastate not just mining companies but also farmers and fishermen when it was inevitably extended to them in future, they won’t let dams be built and they would oppose most tourist developments, especially on the coast.
“Everyone knows Bill Shorten would accept a deal with the Greens in a heartbeat if it meant he could be Prime Minister,” Senator Canavan said. “The price for that Greens support would be an end to resource development projects in the north.
“And that would mean an end to projects like dams, new mining development and port expansion so vital for jobs and growth in Central Queensland and North Queensland.
“Bill Shorten’s one-night stand with regional Queensland would be over and he would be back down south with his inner-city mates in the left wing of the Labor party and the Greens party.
“What development could possibly go ahead in CQ and NQ under a Greens-Labor alliance? The answer is: practically nothing.”
Senator Canavan said a Greens’ veto on resource and tourism development would cost Queensland thousands of jobs.
“There would be no Great Keppel Island resort under the Greens, so that’s 1,500 jobs gone, no agricultural development flowing from new dams, so scratch another 2,100 jobs from Rookwood Weir alone and up to 10,000 jobs involved with the Adani project would be lost too.
“Labor can’t be trusted not to deal with the Greens and if Labor gets enough votes at the election on July 2, that’s what will happen.
“Labor will potentially need Greens support in the House of Representatives and, even if they held a majority in the House of Reps in their own right, would certainly need Greens support in the Senate to get their legislation through.
“Development projects in Central Queensland and North Queensland would have no hope of getting past the Greens and our regions would be hollowed out. A vote for Labor puts jobs and growth in peril in the north. It would kill the north.”
