Yes, that was one of the big distortions of the whole campaign. The mine looks like possibly being an environmental disaster, which isn't great given it's proximity to the Great Barrier Reef - possibility of more coal run-off going into the reef (keeps happening whenever it floods already from the existing coal port), and pollution and physical damage from the extra shipping that will go through the reef area to the port. Then there's the massive amount of water they're going to be allowed to draw from the Great Artesian Basin (which is already depleting at a worrying pace). And all that's before even thinking about climate change.
But the conservative side of politics managed to make it all about jobs, even though the mine, being highly automated, will deliver very little. I believe the most the company expects is about 1600 (even though for years they were claiming 10,000 which still isn't that many). I believe more people have already been employed installing and maintaining renewable energy this year than will ever be employed by this mine, if it ever gets funded (a lot of banks have said they wouldn't fund it because of the environmental problems, as well as the fact that it doesn't seem like it will stack up economically, because the extra supply will likely push down prices making it, as well as other mines in the state less profitable - possibly to the point of unviability).
So it turned into this culture war over coal based on a mine that probably won't go ahead and even if it does won't actually give the community the jobs it needs...
