The Adani election

Queenslanders go to the polls on Saturday, 25 November, to elect a State Government.

Ostensibly, it is a contest between Annastacia Palaszczuk and Tim Nicholls as to who will be Premier of the Queensland Parliament,

It is absolutely not.

The battle is about whether or not one of the largest coal mines in the world will be opened in the Galilee Basin of Queensland and send its coal to India via the Barrier Reef.

This creates a complicated political situation as both Palaszczuk and Nicholls strongly back the opening of the mine, as does the likely holder of the balance of power, Pauline Hanson and her competitor for that role – Robbie Katter.

One would think that this would place the Adani mine in the safest of political positions, but it does not. It is an issue that will dominate the headlines until voting day as Adani protesters turn up to disrupt every political meeting, particularly those of the Premier.

Its chief beneficiary will be the Greens who have never before prospered in Queensland.

They will gain the balance of power and deny Hanson her dream.

In fact, it will change the state of Queensland politics for the next decade, if not permanently.

I am not a member of any political party and never have been, nor will be, and have a constant concern about the extreme positions that the Greens take in opposing every mine of any description anywhere with a determination that is disturbing, to say the least.

I strongly support mining of any mineral that the world can use responsibly, especially coal, so long as its miners invest heavily in clean coal technology, stop the contamination of coal dust and make sure that not one tiny bit of mine waste flows into lakes, creeks and rivers.

But, the Adani mine has problems far beyond those vital issues.