Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has hit back at accusations she's put her job above those of regional Queenslanders by opting to veto a loan to Adani, as decisions around the megamine continue to cause headaches for her re-election bid.
Ms Palaszczuk's government in May agreed not to support a $1 billion federal taxpayer-funded loan to the mining giant, The Australian reported on Saturday, months before she fronted the cameras last week to announce the decision.
The premier told a snap press conference in the first week of her state election campaign she would withdraw her government's support for the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility funds on conflict of interest grounds.
She initially said the decision was to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest after it was revealed her partner, Shaun Drabsch, worked on the loan application with his employer, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
She later said it was to meet a 2015 election promise.
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"We've now found out today that apparently cabinet made a decision in May, that they wouldn't support the NAIF loan being passed through, but covered it up until the election," Liberal National Party leader Tim Nicholls told reporters on Saturday.
He said regional Queenslanders were disillusioned by a premier who would rather put her own job ahead of theirs.
But Ms Palaszczuk defended her commitment to the state's regions on Saturday by remarking she'd visited them more than Mr Nicholl's had.
"Everything that motivates me is about getting people into work," she said after pledging $5.5 million to transform a government warehouse into a sports complex in Brisbane's north.
The state government has maintained its support for Adani's Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin, but has shown an apparent lack of consistency in its position on the loan.
A joint statement between Ms Palaszczuk, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and Treasurer Curtis Pitt issued on May 27 said: "Consistent with our election commitments, cabinet has determined that any NAIF funding needs to be between the federal government and Adani."
