Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced that her government聽will enact laws to crack down ever harder on youth offenders.聽Paul Gregoire reports.
Annastacia Palaszczuk
The Queensland Labor government鈥檚 decision to enact new anti-protest laws to protect new coal and gas projects is a reminder of who the government believes it is in power to serve, writes Margaret Gleeson.
A climate activist has locked on to machinery at聽Adani鈥檚 Carmichael coal mine site in Central Queensland a day聽after Queensland Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk announced penalties for climate protestors participating in civil disobedience.
Federal minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan wants the Adani mine to be the pathfinder to open up the whole Galilee Basin, but some mining companies are pulling out.
As 2017 drew to a close the climate movement had much to celebrate. Hard fought campaigns directed at potential financial backers had resulted in Adani鈥檚 Carmichael coalmine being a far less certain prospect as one by one financial options dissolved.
With major financial institutions in Australia and overseas ruling out support for the project, Adani had pinned its hopes on China as a possible funding source as well as a market for Galilee Basin coal. In spite of the Australian government oiling the wheels for a deal, all major Chinese banks backed away in the end.
The future of Adani鈥檚 proposed Carmichael mine in the Galilee Basin has become intertwined with the Queensland state elections called for November 25, with the mega coalmine confronting serious problems in obtaining finance for the project.
Over the past year, Adani has been increasingly unable to secure the $5 billion it needs from private sources, as various financial institutions have begun shifting investments away from coal and towards renewables.
Under pressure from grassroots campaigns, Australia鈥檚 Big Four banks have ruled out financing the project.
Adani lobbyist and former Queensland Labor Party state secretary Cameron Milner, who played a key role in the 2015 election win of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, has returned to Labor headquarters.
Queensland Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk鈥檚 2015 election commitments to transparent decision making, no 鈥渟ecret deals鈥 and that the Adani project must 鈥渟tand alone on its feet ... on the economics of the project itself鈥 have been challenged by documents released under a Right to Information request.
Far North Queensland Stop Adani groups mobilised when the Queensland government announced its latest "governing from the regions" exercise would be in Cairns over July 10鈥14.
They wanted their message that the massive Carmichael coalmine must be stopped to become the main issue and not the government鈥檚 pork-barrelling.
The shine has rubbed off Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk鈥檚 apology to those men charged with historic gay sex offences, delivered in May.
Palaszczuk was hoping to score points by introducing a Historical Homosexual Convictions Expungement bill, which is now before a parliamentary committee, but it looks like she has struck out.
Three separate domestic violence deaths just days apart in south-east Queensland have prompted Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to fast-track the implementation of the recommendations of the Special Taskforce on Domestic and Family Violence.
The deaths of a child and two women between September 7 and 10 occurred less than a month after the government published its response to the Task Force鈥檚 report, Not now, not ever: Putting an end to domestic and family violence in Queensland.
Queensland鈥檚 environment department has given conditional approval for the controversial expansion of the Acland coalmine. But questions about the link between political donations to the former LNP government and their support for the project remain unanswered.
In December last year the Queensland coordinator-general approved Stage 3 of New Hope Coal鈥檚 Acland coalmine, despite the project requiring the 鈥渃learing of eight endangered and of-concern regional ecosystems鈥 including koala habitat, issues regarded as 鈥渕atters of state environmental significance鈥.