A surprise election victory for Australia’s pro-coal ruling coalition may bode well for the Adani Group’s long-delayed mega coal mine project, with the Group’s country head saying the defeat of Labor Party in Queensland, where the project is based, is a clear message to get the project done.
The opposition Labor Party leader Bill Shorten who took a firm stand against coal and mining has announced he is resigning after accepting defeat as his party fared poorly in Queensland, especially in mining communities in the north of the state.
Adani Australia Chief Executive Officer Lucas Dow in a video message on the company’s Twitter page said Queenslanders have sent a strong message and it is now time for the Queensland government to hear that message.
“Queenslanders are proud of their coal mining industry. They know it is an economic powerhouse that creates jobs and sustains their regions and also provides billions of dollars each year for the benefit of the State,” he said.
Dow also added that Queenslanders do not understand the Queensland Labor Government’s continued efforts to “tarnish and delay the work of Adani Mining, which has been held to the highest level of scrutiny over the past eight years of planning and demonstrated its capability to operate as one of Australia’s leading mining companies”.
Adani Group wants to develop the Carmichael coal deposits in Queensland state, but the plan has been hampered by regulatory delays and difficulty in securing financing aiming fierce environmental resistance. First proposed in 2010, the project, if fully developed, has the potential to more than double the country’s coal exports.
The people of the state “despair at the Queensland Labor Government’s continued efforts to delay and undermine the delivery of the Carmichael Project, despite waving through approvals on other projects without the same level of scrutiny,” he said. “As evidenced by this weekend’s election results, Queenslanders have no tolerance for political actions that are unjust and put people’s livelihoods at risk.”
