Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has questioned why political parties are “desperate” to preselect a mining candidate if coal is so unpopular in the Upper Hunter region – as was indicated in an Australia Institute poll. His comments came in response to a new poll released by the Australia Institute which revealed 57.4 per cent of voters in the Upper Hunter support Malcolm Turnbull’s call for a moratorium on new coal mine approvals.
“If that position was so popular in the Upper Hunter why is it the case that almost every political party is being desperate to preselect a coal miner to run in this region in recent elections,” he told Sky News. “The facts are that people know on the ground in the Upper Hunter that their wages are higher thanks to the coal industry, that business gets people through the door thanks to the coal industry.