Shorten set to take on Adani: Cousins

Anti-Adani campaigner Geoff Cousins says Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told him he was preparing to take a strong position against the proposed coal mine.

Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten

Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten Source: AAP

Businessman Geoff Cousins says Bill Shorten told him he would revoke the licence for the Adani coal mine if the environmental evidence didn't stack up.

Anti-Adani campaigner Mr Cousins told the ABC's 7.30 program Mr Shorten was preparing to take a strong position against the proposed mine in regional Queensland.

"The key statement was that 'when we are in government, if the evidence is as compelling as we presently believe it to be, regarding the approval of the Adani mine, we will revoke the licence'," Mr Cousins told the ABC on Tuesday.

Last week Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said there's no way he'll support government money going to Adani to help the Indian miner get its Queensland coal mine off the ground.

"If they want to use EFIC (the Export Finance and Investment Corporation) or any other form of government funding body to get the money - no, no, no," he told the crowd at a community meeting in Townsville.

The mine is a divisive issue in Townsville, which is one of two fly-in, fly-out bases for the Galilee basin coal mine.

Some want the jobs Adani has promised, but others view the mine as an environmental disaster.


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Shorten set to take on Adani: Cousins | SBS News