Thousands of coal-mining jobs would be at risk if Labor was elected to government federally, Rockhampton-based Senator Matt Canavan said today.

“Today, Labor leader Bill Shorten refused to give his support to development of the Adani Carmichael mine and expansion of Abbot Point,” Senator Canavan said.

“Asked if he would support the Abbot Point expansion in government, Mr Shorten stated ‘ … We’ll be guided by what the experts have to say about environmental conditions, about the viability of these projects going forward.'

"What Mr Shorten does not seem to be aware, is that the experts have spoken. The Abbot Point project has been approved by the Federal Government. It is time for Labor to declare whether they support it too.

"The Adani project has been before the Federal Government for more than 1,900 days. That is enough time for Labor to make up their mind.

"What Mr Shorten's lukewarm support for coal mining really shows is that Labor cares about protecting votes in inner city Sydney and Melbourne from the Greens party, and that’s why Mr Shorten and deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek in the past month have both refused to support the Adani project.

“Asked if the Abbot Point expansion is viable, Mr Shorten stated: ‘Well, there’s a lot people who say it is but of course there are some environmentalists that have a different view.’

“It’s easy to see the environmentalists get more weight in Mr Shorten’s analysis.

“Labor doesn’t care about jobs in regional Australia and it sure doesn’t care about jobs in Central Queensland. Mr Shorten and Labor are prepared to sacrifice jobs in regional Queensland for votes in Sydney and Melbourne. It’s as simple as that."