2017-05-25
Royalty freebies for all mining companies are worse than secret freebies for just Adani, and federal Labor must now come out and oppose these handouts, say the Australian Greens.
“With Queensland Labor happy to sign the Reef’s death warrant and give away free coal, it’s up to Bill Shorten to acknowledge reality and drop support for Adani’s Reef wrecking mega-mine,” said Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Senator for Queensland, Larissa Waters.
“After being publicly shamed for secretly offering Adani a $320 million royalty freebie, Queensland Labor are now cooking up another deal that hands out taxpayer-funded favours to all mining companies.
“Royalty freebies for all mining companies is clear pay back for the $3.5 million in donations Labor accepted from the mining industry.
“Queensland Labor promised voters they would protect the Reef in the last election, and they promised no tax payer handouts for Adani.
“The Premier has broken those promises by doing secret deals with Adani, and is dealing with the Cabinet revolt by extending the freebies for all mining companies – an even worse outcome for the climate and the Reef.
“If Adani’s mega-mine goes ahead, the Reef will die from coral bleaching, taking 70,000 jobs with it.
“Scientists say already approximately half of the Reef’s shallow-water corals may have died from back-to-back mass bleaching caused by coal-driven global warming.
“By orchestrating the slow death of the Reef and allowing a multinational mining company to fleece taxpayers, Queensland Labor is demonstrating who they really work for as well as showing contempt for voters who backed them in the last election.
“Queenslanders who want sustainable jobs created for regional Queensland, and who want genuine climate action not broken promises will vote for the party that doesn’t take mining donations – the Greens”
Media Release Mining and Resources