GEORGE CHRISTENSEN

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Green activists killing jobs on your taxes

Anti-coal activists are attacking jobs and industry and they are doing it at taxpayer expense. A Federal Government inquiry will investigate how green groups are able to take advantage of a tax privilege to prosecute their ideological agendas.The biggest job-creating projects we have in the pipeline have faced a relentless campaign of misinformation from green activist groups. And to rub salt into our wounds, these extreme green groups often enjoy the benefit of tax deductibility status, which means millionaires who live a very comfortable existence miles from our shores can donate to these groups so they can pay less tax.If you care about jobs in Mackay and Bowen and further afield, if you care about projects that will inject huge amounts of money and confidence back into our region, then you should also be rightfully angry about the actions of these extreme greens. They pretend they’re saving the reef, but it’s not about the reef at all. It’s about destroying the coal industry, and your jobs and our economy along with it.The numbers that really matter for the Mackay region are those that add up to greater investment, confidence and most importantly jobs – thousands of them. The numbers that add up are these: Seven billion dollars – that’s $7,000,000,000 – which represents the amount of investment dollars which will start flowing to the state when Adani begins its massive mine, rail and port project in the Galilee Basin, and 10,000, which is the number of direct and indirect jobs that will be created by the combined Adani projects of Carmichael Mine, the North Galilee Basin Rail Link and the associated expansion of the port at Abbot Point.Despite the relentless campaign from groups such as the Environmental Defenders Office, Mackay Conservation Group and GetUp!, Adani Australia expects to start off-site works on their Carmichael Coal Mine in September.These environmental activists are now facing the scrutiny of a Parliamentary Inquiry into their tax deductibility status, as there are serious concerns that some exist largely to prosecute political agendas. You have to ask: Is it right for millionaires, amongst others, to pay less tax to support groups seeking to destroy the coal industry, sugar industry and other agricultural sectors, and to support groups illegally sabotaging operations for resource and agricultural producers?