• Annastacia Palaszczuk must guarantee North and Central Queenslanders that Labor’s new groundwater approval laws won’t delay Adani’s Carmichael Mine

• Labor can’t keep changing the goal posts and slapping more green tape on advanced projects that have already received state and federal approvals

• Annastacia Palaszczuk must stop saying one thing in North and Central Queensland and doing another in George Street

The LNP Opposition is calling on Annastacia Palaszczuk to guarantee the people of North and Central Queensland that Labor’s new groundwater approval legislation won’t delay Adani’s Carmichael Mine.

Shadow Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Andrew Cripps said Labor’s proposed new laws would create yet another hurdle for the Adani project, which promises to deliver thousands of much-needed jobs to the region.

“Annastacia Palaszczuk has the perfect opportunity to look North and Central Queenslanders in the eye and assure them Labor’s new environmental laws won’t delay Adani’s mine,” Mr Cripps said.

“If Labor wants to stand up for regional jobs, they must put an end to the uncertainty and guarantee their latest green tape scheme won’t delay this project, which is already well-advanced.

“If Ms Palaszczuk doesn’t give that guarantee, she is opening the door to green activists and third parties launching further rounds of legal challenges and appeals.

“Mr Cripps said the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) warned a Parliamentary Committee that the mining industry had been given no notice that ‘advanced mining projects’ would be subject to an additional approval requirement to obtain a groundwater licence for associated water.

“QRC said Labor’s new approval requirements would do nothing but duplicate increasingly redundant Commonwealth groundwater laws and lead to further delays on vital projects across the State,” he said.

“Labor can’t keep changing the goal posts – especially when so many Queenslanders are relying on the jobs that will come out of it.

“At every step in the process undertaken by Adani to secure approvals, begin construction and create jobs from the Carmichael project, the Palaszczuk Labor Government has been uncooperative and indecisive.

“It’s time Annastacia Palaszczuk stopped saying one thing in North and Central Queensland and doing another in George Street.”