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Premier denies breaking Adani promise

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk denies discussions with a local council over funding for roads associated with the Adani mine breaks her no funding promise.

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Source: AAP


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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk denies talks with a local council over funding for roads to support the Adani megamine breaks her promise not to commit any taxpayer funds to the project.

The Palaszczuk government is in discussions with the Isaac Regional council, which takes in the Galilee Basin area where the mine will be located, to discuss taking over the $100 million cost of upgrading two roads associated with the project.

But campaigning on the Sunshine Coast on Thursday, Ms Palaszczuk said nothing has been agreed to, and she was committed to her promise of no taxpayer funds being spent on the Carmichael mine or associated projects.

"I am happy to talk to (Mayor) Anne Baker about any issue she has with council roads, but let me make it very clear, there is no taxpayer funds going to the Adani mine," Ms Palaszczuk told reporters.

"The state government has negotiations with councils about all their various council roads."

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Ms Palaszczuk said she had not been directly involved in the discussions between the state government and the council, and said she wouldn't talk about any "hypothetical" deals.

Ms Palaszczuk was also asked whether the royalty holiday she had granted to Adani was at a better rate than the billion-dollar Commonwealth loan it was requesting to build a rail link between the mine and the coal port.

The premier said she couldn't reveal that detail because it was "commercial in confidence".

The Adani issue has dogged the premier for her entire campaign, with anti-Adani protesters disrupting several early media events including her commencement speech.

She also announced at the start of the first week that she would veto the Northern Australian Infrastructure Fund loan for the rail line, which she initially attributed to a perceived conflict of interest with her partner's work on the project.

However, she later insisted it had been her policy all along, and was in line with her government's policy of no taxpayer's money being used to fund the mine.

Reports this week suggested Adani had managed to secure Chinese backing for the rail line project, but the Indian mining giant later insisted it was still seeking the federal government grant.


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