Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business (House)) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Given the nature of the previous answer, on indulgence I associate the opposition with the first part of that answer.

My question is to the Minister for the Environment and Energy. Yesterday the minister said allegations that Adani tampered with scientific evidence in relation to the spill of coal-laden water on the sensitive Caley Valley Wetlands were a state matter. Is the minister aware that the very federal conditions he spoke about yesterday impose direct responsibility for the federal government concerning the Caley Valley Wetlands? Given the minister, in fact, has direct responsibility for these wetlands, when will the government investigate and will it report publicly?

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It must be my lucky day because, as environment minister, I waited 566 days for a question and now I've had two in 48 hours. Yesterday the shadow minister for the environment, the member for Watson, referred to an issue related to Abbot Point terminal. As the shadow minister knows, Abbot Point terminal was constructed before the EPBC Act came in. As a result, the primary regulator for that is the Queensland government. We know why Adani owns the Abbot Point terminal. It is because the Bligh Labor government sold it to them. And the Bligh Labor government sold it to them because they support the Adani project.

The member for Watson knows that this is a state matter, that what he is referring to is the primary regulatory authority and responsibility of the Queensland government. But do you know why he has come to the dispatch box now to ask this question? It's because of the by-election in Batman. It's because in Batman they have a candidate called Ged Kearney, and now Ged Kearney and the 'Kearneyistas' are in control of the Labor Party.

Those opposite used to support the Adani mine. On 12 April 2017 who said 'I support the Adani coalmine'? None other than the Leader of the Opposition. Who said 'I welcome the jobs that it will provide in Queensland'? None other than the member for Shortland. Who said the following? Adani is 'a massive project and it's got the potential to create thousands of jobs, which would be fantastic for regional Queensland'. Labor senator Murray Watt. And who said the following—that the Adani project is a 'vital project as an economic opportunity' for their region? Labor senator Anthony Chisholm. The reality is that the Labor Party supported the Adani project, but now, on the eve of the Batman by-election, Ged Kearney and the 'Kearneyistas' are writing the Labor Party's policy. And this should not surprise us from the Leader of the Opposition, because he famously said:

If you don't know where you're going, any road'll get you there.

The Leader of the Opposition doesn't know if he supports more jobs in Queensland. In fact, he does know now: he doesn't support more jobs in Queensland because he doesn't support the Adani project, all because he is placating the Labor Left in order to win the seat of Batman.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Manager of Opposition Business?

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business (House)) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the environmental approval from 2013 to Adani Abbot Point Terminal which specifically regulates the Caley Valley wetlands, where the coal spill occurred.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is leave granted? Leave is not granted.