Labor has rejected claims it is destabilising Australia’s ability to attract investment through its growing scepticism of the controversial Adani Queensland coalmine.
Following moves by Labor to distance itself from Adani’s proposed Carmichael coalmine, the Adani Australia chief executive, Jeyakumar Janakaraj, told the Weekend Australian that Labor’s attacks on the project had cast doubt on Australia’s ability to remain an attractive destination for capital.
But the deputy opposition leader, Tanya Plibersek, said none of Labor’s criticism should harm Australia as an investment destination.
“It is a bit rich for a company who originally said that they didn’t need taxpayer support for this project to go ahead, and then five minutes later stuck their hand out for a $1bn loan, to be talking about whether we’re an attractive investment destination,” Plibersek told the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.
“We have every right as a nation to say we’ll make decisions in our own best interests, in the best interests of our economy and our environment.”
The $1bn loan Adani had hoped to get to build a railway from the mine to its Abbott Point port will not eventuate after the Queensland government vowed to veto it.
And the project was dealt another blow on Friday when the rail operator Aurizon withdrew its plans to build a freight line.
Plibersek backed Labor leader Bill Shorten’s strident questioning of whether the jobs promised by Adani would eventuate, saying the company had “overinflated” its numbers.
“We do need to answer questions about jobs in central and northern Queensland but we also need to make sensible decisions about this project and really answer whether it stacks up environmentally and economically.”
She denied Labor’s increased vocalness about the massive mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin was prompted by its battle against the Greens in the byelection in inner-Melbourne seat of Batman.
In his comments to the West Australian, Janakaraj warned that international competition for large resources projects was intensifying, following Donald Trump’s move to slash the US corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.
“Everybody is fighting for that place in the top 10 in the world for investment destinations and money is limited,” he reportedly said.
Asked if Shorten’s attacks on Adani had cast doubt on the viability of the new mine, he said: “It casts doubt on Australia’s ability to continue to be an investment-attractive destination.
“That’s the broader context we need to focus on, and not just on one project in any sense.”
