A REDLANDS Labor Party member has resigned, saying many ALP supporters are privately annoyed about the party’s support for central Queensland’s Adani coal mine and Cleveland’s huge $2 billion Toondah Harbour rebuild.
Callen Sorensen-Karklis has written a public letter to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, listing his grievances.
He has been a party member since 2011 and is a Quandamooka Noonuccal salt water person originally from North Stradbroke Island.
Mr Sorensen-Karklis said Labor had done plenty of good, particularly Cross River Rail, the science and innovation push and transparency laws to ban property developers from donating to political parties.
“What astounds me is the massive support for the Adani Carmichael mines project and the Toondah PDA project from the state government,” he said.
He said that as someone of Aboriginal heritage it was challenging for him to support Labor when it had backed a mining company that had not been respectful to the Wangan and Jagalingou people of central Queensland.
“The party that brought about native title in the early 1990s and supported (land rights activist) Eddie Mabo has now taken a turn that just doesn’t feel morally right here,” he said.
His family had worked on Stradbroke sand mines and he could not understand how the Labor administration supported the closure of sand mines on North Stradbroke but the opening of the Adani mine.
Mr Sorensen-Karklis said an issue that concerned many local indigenous people and local residents was the Toondah project which Labor, the LNP and Redland City Council had endorsed.
He wanted alternatives considered to Adani and Toondah.
“Sadly, I resigned from the party this October because I believe until the Queensland branch of the party works out its moral compass on issues like Adani and Toondah, I cannot remain active as a member,” he said.
“... I urge caution that if progressive and realistic alternatives are not looked at, the party is at risk of going the same way … as the democrats did in the US election last year.”
Capalaba Labor MP Don Brown declined to comment on the issue.
