One Nation joins LNP & Labor rush to defend coal, while Queensland has our hottest year ever

Queensland Greens Senator and Greens spokesperson for Mining and Resources Andrew Bartlett has welcomed personal attacks from Pauline Hanson, saying it is a clear sign the growing community movement to stop all new coal mines is both correct and necessary.

“At the very time when Queensland has just suffered through our hottest year on record - putting even greater pressure on the cost of living and thousands of jobs at risk - the One Nation party is joining with the LNP and Labor in pushing for more coal mines.

“The Greens will continue to promote evidence based policy which will deliver a fair future for the whole community, not just corporations. The regular refusal of people like Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts to acknowledge even the most basic and obvious truths, including about economics, jobs or the climate just reinforces our determination to continue to stand up for the community, not for corporations and politicians.

“Even the banking and finance sector knows that new coal projects cannot be profitable without special favours from government and cannibalising jobs and profits from existing projects elsewhere. Our leaders need to be protecting the jobs that already exist and supporting investment that will deliver stable secure jobs in the local community. The Greens released a range of initiatives in the recent state election showing how they could be done, and how it could be paid for.

“The Queensland Labor Government need to decide very quickly whether they want to continue sharing the same discredited economic and scientific approach to coal as the party of Malcolm Roberts and Pauline Hanson, or put the needs of the wider community ahead of the profits of their donors in the mining and construction industries.

“The people of central and northern Queensland want investment in infrastructure projects in their local communities that will provide ongoing jobs and benefit everyone, rather than a short-term boom based on FIFO workers which provide for the corporate heads but not for the people.

“Instead of defending the interests of the coal barons and the big corporations, One Nation, the LNP and Labor should be demanding that coal and gas miners pay their fair share of royalties and tax for the use of state’s resources, so that revenue can be invested back into the infrastructure and jobs which will benefit the whole community.

“People in Northern Queensland are already paying the price from more extreme weather events with skyrocketing insurance premiums, and more and more jobs are at risk from increasingly regular and severe coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef.

“The coal mining sector is wilfully making climate change worse and its short term boom and an inevitable bust cycle is harming our communities in Central Queensland who deserve better from our Government. They need reliable, long term jobs and politicians who put their needs before the interests of big business. 

Media Contact: Asia Munro 0419 626 725