Lisa Singh departs from official Labor position that the mine can proceed on its own merits with no federal funding

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The federal Labor senator Lisa Singh has said the Adani coalmine would be “a huge mistake for this country” in a departure from the official Labor position. The opposition maintains the controversial project can proceed on its merits, but without any government support.



Singh, a left-leaning Tasmanian senator, told Guardian Australia on Tuesday the coal project had absolutely no merit.

“If we are going to be serious about climate change, we should not be starting any new coalmines in this country,” she said. “I understand the need for jobs in the regions, but those jobs need to be long-term sustainable jobs.

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“I believe the Adani coalmine is a big mistake for this country. Our future, like India, has to be in renewables.”

Federal Labor has been attempting to walk a line where it has supported the Queensland mine if it can proceed on a commercial basis and comply with regulatory hurdles. It has opposed federal government support for the project.

Singh’s departure from the official script came as the controversial project was raised in both the Coalition party room meeting on Tuesday, and in the Labor caucus.

The deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, and five government MPs spoke in favour of the Adani project during Tuesday’s regular party room meeting, focusing on an emerging split in the Queensland state Labor government about whether the mine should get a royalties holiday.

While some Liberal MPs in metropolitan electorates see the Adani project as an electoral liability, given the concerted civil society campaign against the mine has activated broad concerns about the development, Queensland MPs push the project as a plus for regional jobs.

After the party room meeting, the outspoken LNP backbencher George Christensen declared the divisions meant: “There is now a real risk that an internal fight in the state Labor government could scuttle the Adani Carmichael coal project which will provide the jobs and investment central and north Queensland needs.”

Both major parties have their eyes on marginal seats in Queensland, believing the outcome of those local contests will determine who ultimately takes government at the next federal election.

Labor federally has the added complication of a looming state election in Queensland, with the premier, Annastacia Palaszcuk, under pressure to deliver jobs.

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The Coalition in Canberra has leapt on emerging divisions in Labor about the project. The federal resources minister, Matt Canavan, said on Tuesday the Queensland Labor government’s apparent backflip on royalties meant there was “a serious question mark over [the project] now that wasn’t there a week ago”.

“It’s a remarkable and embarrassing situation for Queensland that they don’t even have a tax regime in place,” he said. “This project has been a consideration for nearly seven years now, the Palaszczuk government has been in power for more than two years.”

With the Turnbull government looking for opportunities to put the ALP under political pressure about the project, Adani also came up in the regular Labor caucus meeting on Tuesday.

The Victorian Labor MP David Feeney asked whether the shadow environment minister, Tony Burke, was confident the Turnbull government was following proper procedures regarding environmental approvals.

He also made a broader point about Labor’s positioning, and expressed a view that the opposition needed to be clear about when decisions about the project would be taken.

The New South Wales Labor MP Pat Conroy also asked a question about a report in Guardian Australia revealing the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation was considering a multimillion-dollar loan to a South African coalmine that would be in direct competition with the Carmichael mine.

Labor MPs in the Newcastle and Hunter mining regions are positive about coal, but concerned the Adani project will displace jobs and economic activity in a region that is traditionally an ALP stronghold.

The shadow climate change minister, Mark Butler, articulated those concerns in a recent interview with the ABC. Butler said if the Adani project went ahead “by some miracle … it will simply displace existing coal operations elsewhere in Australia.”

Conroy told Guardian Australia after the caucus meeting the Turnbull government must not fund the Adani project, including through a concessional loan to fund a rail link associated with it. “Giving a $1bn concessional loan to this project would be a betrayal of Hunter coal workers,” Conroy said on Tuesday. “I would strenuously oppose such a move.”

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Infrastructure Australia told a Senate estimates hearing this week it had not yet identified a proposed rail line linking the mine with Abbot Point port as a priority, and it has not consulted the body which is expected to stump up a concessional loan.

The chief executive of Infrastructure Australia, Philip Davies, told a Senate estimates hearing on Monday the rail line – which has been pushed assiduously by Canavan – was not “something we’ve currently identified” as a priority project.

Adani is seeking a $900m concessional loan from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility for it.

The rail project has completed a preliminary assessment and been referred for further consideration. Infrastructure Australia and the Naif are required to consult on projects worth more than $100m.