Senate debates

Tuesday, 4 December 2018

Motions

Mining

4:39 pm

Photo of James McGrathJames McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) recognises:

  (i) the Liberal-National Coalition Government's enduring support for investment in Central and North Queensland,

  (ii) the Liberal-National Coalition Government's unmatched support for the creation of jobs and new opportunities in Central and North Queensland,

  (iii) the Liberal-National Coalition Government's support for Adani's Carmichael Mine project, and

  (iv) that in the previous financial year, the resources sector contributed $62 billion to Queensland's economy and was responsible for more than 54,000 full-time jobs;

(b) further recognises that the Adani Carmichael Mine project is overwhelmingly supported by the Wangan and Jagalingou people, the Traditional Owners;

(c) notes that it was announced on 29 November 2018 that Adani's Carmichael Mine project would proceed; and

(d) welcomes the jobs and prosperity that this project will bring to the people of Central and North Queensland.

4:40 pm

Photo of Larissa WatersLarissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Photo of Scott RyanScott Ryan (President) Share this | | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Photo of Larissa WatersLarissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | | Hansard source

This government has never met a coalmine it didn't want to approve and, coincidentally, the Liberal Party has also never met a donation from the coal industry that it did not want to take. I'd like to place on record statements from the traditional owners of the land, the Wangan and Jagalingou people. They've had this to say about the Adani mine:

If the Carmichael mine were to proceed it would tear the heart out of the land. The scale of this mine means it would have devastating impacts on our native title, ancestral lands and waters, our totemic plants and animals, and our environmental and cultural heritage. It would pollute and drain billions of litres of groundwater, and obliterate important springs systems. It would potentially wipe out threatened and endangered species. It would literally leave a huge black hole, monumental in proportions, where there were once our homelands. These effects are irreversible. Our land will be "disappeared".

Photo of Scott RyanScott Ryan (President) Share this | | Hansard source

The question is that motion No. 1297 be agreed to.