Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

Australian government might not be able to bypass Queensland and give funds to Adani for coal mine rail line

Queensland election: Naif testimony casts doubts on claim Adani loan can bypass state. Annastacia Palaszczuk gets support from former LNP MP Vaughan Johnson, who says she made the right call on loan, Guardian, Joshua Robertson, 7 Nov 17, The Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility cannot bypass the Queensland government and award Adani a $1bn loan, according to Senate testimony from its own executives that casts doubt on fresh suggestions funds could be fast-tracked before the state election.

Annastacia Palaszczuk’s belated pledge to veto the Adani loan if Labor holds government remains a campaign flashpoint, with the treasurer, Curtis Pitt, forced to refute a report that his office said the state would process the loan.

The Queensland premier is under attack for framing her dramatic about-face as a bid to quash a rumoured “smear campaign” by Coalition senators about a conflict of interest from her partner’s role in Adani’s Naif application.

But Palaszczuk also gained an unlikely supporter in the former LNP MP Vaughan Johnson, who said she made the right call amid “mudslinging” from Canberra. The Guardian has been told that Labor’s decision to commit to a veto involved strategic input from the former Adani lobbyist Cameron Milner, who cut ties with the miner to devote himself to the party’s campaign.

A veto now hinges on Labor’s re-election after the opposition leader, Tim Nicholls, refused Palaszczuk’s request for bipartisan support in a caretaker period….https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/nov/07/queensland-election-naif-testimony-casts-doubts-on-claim-adani-loan-can-bypass-state

November 8, 2017 - Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics

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