Here’s a ponder point … the Adani coal project in the Isaac Council region of Nth Queensland garners a lot of media attention … and said project promises, with hand on their heart, that about 1000 lucky people will pick up the job of their dreams … well, all of that remains to be seen.
Yet … what does not garner any sort of reasonable media attention is what that little Council is quietly doing in the background. Along with the Qld State Labor Government they’ve recently approved one of Australia’s largest wind farms for their region, which will create 350 medium term jobs, and they’ve also approved 10 solar farm projects.
So … one single wind renewable project in that region creates, all by itself, 350 jobs. That number will fritter down once the construction phase has finished. But, there are 10 more solar projects approved and one more under consideration for the region. And we are talking about just one small Council in Nth Qld.
By the bye … the binary us and them divide needs to end here in Qld. No Renewables Supporter that I know wishes coal miners and their families any harm as they navigate their way around, through, and perhaps eventually out of, an industry in transition. The employees of our now defunct car factories know what that sort of thing is all about.
However, we all know where this is heading, and what questions are begging to be asked.
If one single renewables project offers up the prospect of approximately one third of the total number of hand on heart jobs promised by Adani, how many jobs will eleven renewables projects offer up for that region, and, therefore, why are all the Politicos falling over themselves backwards to simply please Adani?
Also, how come in the lead up to the recent federal election which was supposedly all about jobs and when votes were being vied for in Queensland, that last question was not plastered across the front page of every media outlet each and every single day?
There’s a long list of entities, including the Great Barrier Reef, who’d love to know the answer to those questions.
The future is writ large … sustainable installation and maintenance jobs for Central and North Queensland are in renewables.
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The ALP now understand that honesty, decency, and a transforming suite of great policies don’t cut it. Beware 2022 LNP … you’ve shot your bolt and have nothing left. The ALP are coming for you and you have nowhere to hide … not even in Queensland.
Unhappily, we know the answers to the question you pose. Adani presented the perfect “wedge” issue for Morrison (he is a hollow man who needs simple strategies after all) and the counter-arguments were only going to diminish Morrison’s arguments and give Labor a chance.
The hypocrisy of governments is truly appalling and it shows that however much we don’t trust them, we should despise them more than we do. This applies especially to the Queensland Labor government, although it is likely that “whatever-her-name -is”, for whom I have never harbored any great respect, is politically dead, but her now impassioned embrace of Adani, in spite of clear environmental warnings shows that government for the few who can impact a State of Federal election is much more important than making more intelligent decisions that have longer term impact on the many. The facts are that even if coal was not the environmental disaster that the research shows it to be over the longer term. the jobs available in large-scale mining have been reduced dramatically because of automation and the Queensland mining regions will soon enough have to add other job-creation strategies in the mix. Of course, that little realisation won’t get much attention because it will show that Labor was right and the MSM were wrong.
On the point of the media being implacably opposed to Labor, I had opined to my LNP-voting wife that the ABC had shown a distinct anti-Labor bias. The indicators to me were that shows like the Weekly and Sammy J did lampoon both Morrison and Shorten, but the lampooning of Shorten was much more vicious and showed clear indications to me of reinforcing the anti Labor bias that dominated the mainstream media (even a Sammy J skit had virtually endorsed the view that Labor would “destroy the economy within 3 months of being elected”). I had wondered if I was simply being too sensitive, but I noted in the days post the election that the lampooning of Morrison on the ABC has really ramped up in a way that was not at all evident pre-election.
Moreover, the absurd shreiking of second-rate journalists now trying to interview Albanese and trying to corner him is really ramping up.
I watched a sickening example only today on the appalling Nine morning drivel fest (something I normally never watch, but I am feeling less and less charitable towards the ABC’s ownb breakfast tripe). The utterly lightweight Deb Knight was doing her darndest to corner Albanese on “class warfare” – to the point where her questions were virtually “non-sequiturs” in that the questions just didn’t follow what he said, but she was going to get the term into her questions come hell or high water. Bad journalist will always be bad, but even capable journalists like Trioli and Sales are way too obsessed with the “gotcha” moment and in my view way tougher on Labor figures than those in the LNP. Perhaps sanity will be restored once the impressive and fair David Speers joins Insiders – he may, one hopes, raise a bar that is just too low at the moment and show the second-raters how journalism could be done.
All this COALition backed Adani mine crap, is just a lot of hot air (coal fired?) about a company that should never be allowed to be here in Australia, promises of millions of jobs (sic) not withstanding, & all the inept, lying, flat earth, climate change denying effing right wing, so-called liberal/country party “politicians” (sic), has caused far too much debate about just how “good” this mine will be for Australia & especially for Queensland. What a load of rubbish! And, as usual, the very bloody “good” & so bloody patriotic so-called “newspapers” owned by that foreigner Mudrake, ALL the shock jocks, the Sky news idiots & ALL the climate change denying idiots who all insist that any coal mine will be great for Australia, cannot be wrong, can they? After all, according to Slo Mo & his lot, coal is good (?) & of course, not allowing Adani & his effing coal mine–not forgetting the millions of jobs all this will create–MUST be Labor’s fault, as has every lie he & his mob said about Shorten & his mob! Good on the Council in FNQ who are going ahead getting wind farms up & running. So much better for the environment & for jobs in the region. Sadly, we are now saddled with this bloody lot of lying incompetents for another 3 years. Here’s hoping something disasterous can happen to Slo Mo & his mob, & they can be kicked out before then! One can but dream! Great article Kieth!