Labor is doubling down on its efforts to woo back the coal communities it lost at the last election, with Anthony Albanese aiming to meet mineworkers as part of his first official tour of Queensland since becoming leader.

Albanese is also expected to clean up the opposition’s position on the controversial Adani coalmine during the trip, after the project – which has since been granted approvals by the Queensland Labor government – continually tripped up Bill Shorten’s campaign in the sunshine state.

Albanese will leave for Barcaldine in western Queensland, considered the spiritual birthplace of the Labor party, on Tuesday morning. It will be the first stop in a regional tour intended to win the state back after its historically low polling result in May.

Mining towns Emerald, Rockhampton and Gladstone top the list, and Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Maryborough and Gympie will round out the four-day tour.

Labor suffered swings against it in all the seats covered by the tour, but Albanese has suggested his personal popularity could help win back voters put off by Shorten, telling radio 2GB: “I have always had a positive reaction in Queensland.”

While in Emerald, Albanese will meet mine workers as Labor continues its pivot towards coalmining as a positive for the economy – a position Albanese made clear on Monday following interventions from Joel Fitzgibbon.

“One of the points that I make as well is that the demand for coal and our coal exports are demand-driven,” he told 2GB. “That is, that places in the world want to buy our product, whether it’s coal or iron ore or copper or other products. It is not something that is driven by the fact of the export – it is the other way around. And if we were to stop exporting coal tomorrow, then that would just lead to a displacement with more coal being bought from all the places in the world: South America, Indonesia, a range of countries – we are not unique in having coal assets.

“And that would likely lead to an actual increase in global emissions because much of our coal is much better quality than is available from the alternatives. So we need to be sensible about the way we examine this.”

The Greens have seized on Labor’s narrative shift, with Melbourne MP Adam Bandt accusing Labor of joining the Morrison government in “abandoning climate action”.

“Liberal and Labor value coal more than human life,” he said. “Coal is fuelling the fires, coal is fuelling the drought and coal is fuelling the smoke over Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane. If you don’t have a plan to get out of coal you don’t have a plan to deal with the climate crisis. We stopped selling asbestos and we need to phase out coal exports too.”

Meanwhile, the resources minister, LNP senator Matt Canavan, has taken to the media to demand Albanese vocalise his support for the Adani mine.

Albanese has previously said it is for the market to decide whether or not the Adani coalmine goes ahead.

But with the Queensland election – now less than a year away – looming as his first big test as leader, Albanese is expected to take a more definitive line on the topic.

With the latest ANU electoral study confirming Labor’s ongoing trend of losing support among working class voters, Albanese’s choice of Queensland regions is no accident as he seeks to win back the party’s base.

“I am someone who what you see is what you get … I say it as I see it,” he said on Monday. “And I will be pleased to talk to workers from across industries … and I enjoy talking to people, whether it’s in a pub, in a club or in a worksite. And I very much look forward to not just talking but listening as well.”