Bill Shorten has turned his back on Queensland workers with his refusal to fully back the Adani Carmichael mine, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan said.
“Recently, Mr Shorten visited Central Queensland claiming to support workers, but he didn’t mention the Adani project once.
“Now, despite claiming to support the Coalition’s Northern Australia Agenda, including the work of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), Mr Shorten has dismissed out of hand a proposal to consider NAIF funding for the North Galilee Rail Project,” Senator Canavan said.
“The independent, skills-based board of the NAIF is currently assessing Adani’s application for a loan for a railway, which would also be open to other users. The board will run the ruler over every part of it to see if it stacks up.
“But incredibly, Bill Shorten has now gone out ahead of the transparent process. This attitude risks undermining the independence and trust in the NAIF. Labor’s heart just isn’t in developing the North.
“Mr Shorten is also at odds with his Queensland Labor colleagues who wrote to the Federal Government earlier this year proposing a loan from the NAIF to build the rail line.
“This is the same Bill Shorten who claimed to support workers in Victoria who will lose their jobs when the Hazelwood power station closes, but also supports the closure of all coal-fired power stations in Australia.
“The Shorten-led Labor Party’s ideological opposition to coal is holding back our economy and holding back the full development of the North.”
