Backbencher says he maintains confidence in Annastacia Palaszczuk and her government, but has deserted party over its support for Adani’s Carmichael mine and its ‘deeply conservative agenda’

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Queensland backbencher Rob Pyne has quit the Labor party, saying the Palaszczuk government was faltering under the influence of multinational mining companies and the “deeply conservative agenda” of party leaders.

Pyne’s departure – the second from Labor ranks since it took power just over a year ago – leaves the government with the same number of MPs as the Liberal National opposition, deepening its reliance on crossbench negotiations to pass laws.



Pyne has written to the Queensland governor, Paul De Jersey, to express “confidence in Annastacia Palaszczuk and her government” and his likely “support for most government legislation”.

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But he could not “as a matter of conscience … support bills simply because they are government bills”, he said in the letter, seen by Guardian Australia.

In another letter to state Labor secretary Evan Moorehead, Pyne said key factors in his desertion of the party included its support for Adani’s Carmichael mine – which he said was incompatible with protecting the Great Barrier Reef – and looming water reforms favouring miners.

“It has been very disappointing to see the influence that the big multinational corporates, especially mining companies have over our government,” Pyne wrote.

Pyne, who has clashed with deputy premier and local government minister Jackie Trad over his use of parliament to allege misconduct and corruption in Queensland councils, flagged quitting the party last month but stayed on after talks with Palaszczuk.

He told Guardian Australia he had since come under “pressure in terms of what I can say in the parliament, the feeling that I can’t make speaking submissions if they don’t conform to what the party and the party whip wants”.

“Well, sorry, I want to go into that parliament and speak what I think is in the best interests of Cairns and Queensland. I don’t want to be vetted in speaking out in that place,” he said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will be forced to rely on crossbench votes to pass legislation. Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP

Pyne said Labor should come clean on critical sentiment towards mining companies in its own ranks, with those who speak out, such as former coal miner Jim Pearce, publicly censured but privately congratulated.

“It seems like when people like Jim Pearce speak out, the premier more or less reprimands them in the parliament and then they go into the parliamentary dining room and everyone slaps them on the back and says, ‘Good on you, Jim’,” Pyne said.

“I think ‘good on you Jim’ too but let’s be honest and let’s say in public what we’re saying in private.”

Pyne said Moorhead had raised concerns about his discussions with anti-gas activists Lock The Gate, who were “regarded as radical”.

“Clearly there is a difference of opinion there and I don’t know exactly why the Labor party is beholden to the big mining companies,” he said.

Pyne said his hopes of other progressive moves by the Palaszczuk government had been dashed “by a leadership team that is deeply conservative in their agenda”.

“There are some issues like a woman’s right to choose, we’ve got hundred year old laws in this state and Cairns is one of the last cities where a woman’s been put on trial for having an abortion,” he said.

“That’s no threat to corporate power but at least it would show a bit of reformist zeal.

“LGBTI couples can’t adopt in Queensland. These aren’t addressing corporate power; they’re not going to see the sky fall in; why isn’t the Labor party moving on those sort of reforms?”

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Pyne, the only quadriplegic ever elected to an Australian parliament, said he was “probably more in touch” with rank and file party sentiment “than most members of the parliamentary party”.

In his letter to Moorehead, Pyne said: “You can’t say you support the Adani mine and are acting on climate change and protection of the Great Barrier Reef.”

Pyne told Moorehead that draft laws allowing free mining company access to groundwater – due to be debated in parliament from next week – conflicted with “real Labor values (that) mean keeping our state assets in the hands of Queenslanders”.

Pyne told Guardian Australia that he did not want to “lose sleep because I have voted for legislation that I don’t believe is in the best interests of my constituency”.



Labor’s opposition to laws expanding sugar marketing rights for cane farmers last year was one example, he said.

Pyne said he hoped to join with other far northern Queensland MPs – who include fellow Labor turned independent MP Billy Gordon – to address “systemic neglect” of the region.



Labor came to power in February last year with 44 MPs and the support of independent speaker Peter Wellington.

Gordon was forced to quit Labor last year amid controversy over a spent criminal history he kept from the party and a police probe of domestic violence allegations by a former partner, which did not result in any charges.

When Gordon opposes its legislation, the government has been forced to negotiate support from two Katter’s Australian party MPs, as it did with its recent lockout laws.

Pyne said he had not discussed his decision to turn independent with Gordon.



Opposition leader Lawrence Springborg seized on Pyne’s departure as a sign of “the utter depth of internal frustration with the ‘frozen at the wheel’ Palaszczuk Labor government”.

Pyne told the governor his resignation “should not be interpreted as a lack of confidence in Premier Palaszczuk or Treasurer (Curtis) Pitt”.

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“Rather it is a result of my steely determination to support legislation beneficial to Cairns and Queensland, not simply on the basis of party politics,” he said.

Pyne in the letter said the minority government had “passed 40 bills with none being defeated at second reading, so no argument of instability or legislative uncertainty holds water”.

He said Palaszczuk should remain premier because he believed “Queenslanders and Australians are not supportive of leadership changes during a parliamentary term”.