• Annastacia Palaszczuk confirms Adani project will need to comply with Labor’s news groundwater approval laws if passed through Parliament

• Labor ignores today’s open letter from business and community leaders who warn more roadblocks will cost jobs and risk investment

• Palaszczuk’s admission comes as thousands more jobs are slashed from regional Queensland employment market

Annastacia Palaszczuk has opened the door to more costly delays for the Adani Carmichael mine after today confirming on 612 ABC Radio that the project will need to comply with Labor’s new groundwater approval laws, even though it is well-advanced and has already been assessed and approved under both State and Federal legislation.

Shadow Minister for Mines and Northern Development Andrew Cripps said Annastacia Palaszczuk had treated business and community leaders in Central and Northern Queensland with contempt by ignoring today’s open letter, which warned Labor that its new groundwater laws could kill the job-creating project

“This is yet another example of Annastacia Palaszczuk saying one thing in North Queensland and doing another in George Street in Brisbane –it’s dishonest and it’s disgraceful,” Mr Cripps said.

“Annastacia Palaszczuk has opened the door to green activists and third parties launching further rounds of legal challenges and appeals that will jeopardise the delivery of much-needed jobs and investment to the region.

“Labor has reluctantly declared Adani Carmichael mine as a “critical infrastructure project”, yet they continue to shift the goal posts, fueling further uncertainty in the region and the wider resources sector by subjecting the project to a double-jeopardy assessment and approvals process.”

Mr Cripps said today’s admission from Labor comes as the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics regional employment figures paint a bleak picture for jobseekers in Central and Northern Queensland.

“In the Townsville region, around 600 jobs were slashed from the local market in the last month alone – that equates to almost 10,000 in the last year,” he said.

“Under Labor’s watch, almost 5,000 jobs have disappeared from the Mackay region jobs market and unemployment has risen in the Rockhampton region too.

“It’s hard to believe that Premier Palaszczuk and her local Labor MPs in Central and North Queensland are so determined to sell out their constituents and their local communities to appease radical green activists and secure Green preferences.

“At a time when regional Queenslanders need a government that creates jobs, this anti-investment Labor Government has done nothing but create hurdles and roadblocks.”