COMMENT: Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has revealed just how desperate she is to retain power by tossing Queensland’s $16.5 billion Adani project under a proverbial coal truck.
Dogged by anti-Adani protesters since the start of the election campaign less than a week ago, the Ms Palaszczuk has decided that maintaining support for the major mining project is just too great a risk to the re-election of her minority government.
In one of the most spectacular and potentially fiscally damaging backflips in Queensland’s political history, the under pressure premier has both sapped the confidence of investors and elevated the sovereign risk of doing business in Queensland.
Certainly the announcement is likely to be enough to get the Labor-aligned extreme green groups off the television. But for those groups that now smell blood over Adani, their efforts will be increased.
What this is not about is an alleged, still to be revealed LNP smear campaign involving Ms Palaszczuk’s partner Shaun Drabsch.
Ms Palaszczuk’s reasoning for abandoning Adani is extraordinary but ultimately and wholly about the pursuit of power at any cost.
It’s about the desperation of the Labor machine to retain government and protect the powerful left faction and especially deputy leader Jackie Trad who is unlikely to hold her South Brisbane seat. Not surprisingly questions are already emerging centred on how much pressure Mr Trad has applied on Ms Palaszczuk to abandon Adani.
According the premier during the past 72 hours – three day ago – it came to her attention that the LNP in Canberra intended to smear campaign against Mr Drabsch, herself and the the Palaszczuk Government.
Mr Drabsch has worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers since 2015, in a part-time advisory capacity in infrastructure financing. That has included work on the Adani project.
“When Shaun took on this role, the PWC managing partner – Brisbane wrote to me to assure me they would avoid conflicts of interest in Shaun’s role and in my job as Premier of Queensland,” Ms Palaszczuk said in a statement.
“On receipt of the letter at the time, my director-general sought advice from the integrity commissioner and I continue to follow that advice.
“On Tuesday night, my chief of staff advised me of a rumour circulating among LNP Senators about Shaun’s work.
“I am told they planned to use this during the election campaign to impugn my character and suggest something untoward.
“This afternoon, I announce that my Government has had no role to date in the Federal Government’s NAIF loan assessment process for Adani - now we will have no role in the future.”
What makes Ms Palaszczuk decision to abandon Adani mid-campaign even more implausible is that she still attempting to have a foot in both camps.
One message for inner-city Brisbane, another for regional Queensland.
“I support the projects and the jobs it (Adani) will deliver,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “I know how important it is to the people of North Queensland to have a job.”
