1 vote to 87: Rob Pyne votes against Adani coal mine

September 1, 2016
Issue 
Independent Cairns MP Rob Pyne

Independent MP for Cairns Rob Pyne was once again the lone voice in the Queensland parliament against the Adani coalmine on August 30.

While 300 people protested in the city centre at 24 hours' notice, the Queensland Parliament was considering a motion to "support the development of Adani's Carmichael mine".

The motion was moved by notorious mining industry apologist Andrew Cripps from the Liberal National Party in the wake of a Federal Court decision in favour of the mine.

The vote was 87 to 1, with Pyne the lone voice of dissent.

This motion went further than a similar motion earlier this year. Not only did it call on the state government to "prioritise its commitment to Land Court reform to expedite the consideration of resource projects in Queensland", it also called for explicit support for "other new thermal coal mines" in the state.

Pyne told Green Left Weekly that "the ALP just gets worse and worse on this issue".

"I called a division because I know for a fact there are some people in the ALP who don't support [the Adani mine]. I was hoping some of them might do the right thing by their children and future generations and at the very least abstain.

"Cairns is a Pacific Rim city and I'm worried that my electorate will be under water if they keep going ahead with these 20th century proposals.

"Many countries are transitioning away from fossil fuels. We have to transition away from fossil fuels as well.
"All they talk about in this place [parliament] is jobs; but they're looking for jobs in all the wrong places."

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