Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. I find it very convenient that the government has denied leave for me to amend this motion because of course it means that they do not have to place themselves on record as to whether they intend to use federal taxpayer money to bankroll private coal infrastructure to open up the Galilee Basin, which is the whole intention of this motion—to seek clarification on that very point. So it seems that we can only draw the conclusion that they do intend to so use federal money to prop up an ailing industry that the rest of the world is already declining in its demand for.

Following the terrible decision of the Queensland Premier, Mr Campbell Newman, yesterday to not only sell or long-term lease Queensland's public assets but to then use that revenue to fund a coal railway to open up the Galilee Basin because none of the other private investors will touch this, I will be pursuing this matter. But we can only conclude that federal money indeed will be committed to this disastrous development. (Time expired)