Within 24 hours of the news of a by-election in the Greens/Labor marginal seat of Batman, Federal Labor reaffirm they do not support taxpayer funds for any Galilee Basin rail line.

“Bill Shorten is no Caped Crusader - we know there’s an election coming when Labor starts to parade their green credentials.

“But he has provided a perfect opportunity for Queensland Labor to get out of their self-made mess and do what’s right for the regions”, says Queensland Greens Senator Andrew Bartlett.

Greens Senator for Queensland Andrew Bartlett says Malcolm Turnbull’s pledge of millions of dollars to protect the Great Barrier Reef is a wasteful publicity stunt aimed at distracting attention away from those who continue to put the Reef at risk.

“The real beneficiaries of this blatant publicity stunt are the fossil fuel giants and their Liberal Party mates who will continue to go about their business as usual - certainly not the Reef or the public, who are footing million dollar bills for wasteful projects that are doomed to fail.

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 MYEFO’s glaring omission of any significant spending support on the Environment proves this Government cannot be trusted with our future,” says Greens environment spokesperson, Senator Andrew Bartlett.

“The only meaningful action this Government has made in the Environment space has been their cynical attempt to restrict the tax deductibility of donations made to environment advocacy organisations.  

“This Government has overseen a decline in spending to preserve our natural environment, and shown a reckless disregard for preserving land and water quality.

Much has been said about the result of the Queensland state election last weekend—many times in this chamber and of course in many other places in my home state of Queensland. As with any election, there are many issues involved in shaping the votes of the millions of Queenslanders across that state. But, certainly, key amongst those issues is the Adani Carmichael mine.