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Mea Coalpa

Anthony Albanese wheels a barrow of coal away from a 'Welcome to Queensland' sign. A shadowy figure is in the background amidst black smoke and yellow flames.

In an attempt to win back Queensland voters following the May election, in December 2019, Labor leader Anthony Albanese planned a four-day trip to ‘coal country’. He offered support for exporting coal, but resisted calls to make the unequivocal three-word statement — ‘I support Adani’ — about Adani’s controversial Carmichael mine. To the disappointment of climate change activists, however, he acknowledged the fait accompli: ‘It has been approved. They need to proceed with creating the jobs that will come from that project.’