Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Queensland's biggest coalmining project is to be sited in my electorate of Capricornia. Our government supports this project which would create thousands of jobs for Queensland families and contracts for business. The Adani Carmichael coalmine offers up to 10,000 new jobs, mainly in Queensland; $20 billion of investment in Australia; and power, to build the living standards of 100 million people in India. The Carmichael site is about 160 kilometres west from Clermont in Capricornia. The Adani project would build the most important coal rail project in modern Queensland, and it would upgrade export and shipping infrastructure at Abbot Point. The project is worth $21 billion to Queensland. Why is it, then, that it is under threat from activists waging so-called lawfare?

Lawfare is the way extreme greens are using court action to delay important job-creating infrastructure projects. Their attempts to disrupt and delay the Adani coal project would cost Queensland families jobs, and turn potential investment away from the state. How can the Greens and Labor look families in our coal-belt of Central Queensland in the eye and say they care? Labor and the Greens do not care if families default on their mortgages or if they cannot put food on the table for their kids or meet their car repayments, because Labor and the Greens do not care about creating important job opportunities. Clearly the Greens and Labor do not care about the future of Capricornia.

Earlier this week, four of my LNP parliamentary colleagues from Central Queensland united to put the practice of lawfare under the spotlight. We have exposed the extreme green groups for putting a roadblock in the way of job creation. This is occurring while their Labor mates, who have no feasible economic management skills, are looking on in silence. Our coalition government wants to create jobs for Australians; this is the message we need to make clear. The interests of hardworking Central Queensland families need to come first. Investment creates jobs, but both opportunities have been put at risk by the Greens and a lacklustre Labor Party. Labor used to say they stood up for the workers; well, not in the bush and not in country towns around Capricornia. Labor only care about city people and the latte-lounging Greens. You might be forgiven for thinking that Labor and the Greens are the same party. There is no point of difference when it comes to destroying jobs in Central Queensland; they are both guilty. The question for Labor is: does it stand for jobs and workers? The coalition government knows where it stands on jobs and economic growth. Where does Labor stand? If Labor and the Greens were serious about jobs for Central Queensland families, they would get out of the way and let Adani move forward.