Controversial carbon capture and storage project opposed by Gina Rinehart causes high-level Coalition split

By national regional affairs reporter Jane Norman

Posted Fri 10 May 2024 at 5:08amFriday 10 May 2024 at 5:08am

Nationals Leader David Littleproud with then-resources minister Keith Pitt in 2020.(Supplied: LETA)

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• In short: A split emerges within Coalition as the opposition tries to distance itself from a controversial carbon capture and storage project.
• The Nationals leader accused the deputy Liberal leader of making the wrong decision while in government.
• What's next? Queensland is set to decide whether to approve the project later this month ahead of a Federal Court challenge.

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley has hit back at a colleague's claim that she made the wrong call about a controversial carbon project in government, exposing a split at the highest levels of the Coalition.

Farmers, environmentalists and Australia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart, have united in opposition against the planned carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in the Great Artesian Basin, Australia's largest groundwater resource.

The three-year trial in Queensland's Darling Downs would involve capturing and liquefying CO2 from Glencore's Millmerran coal-fired power station and pumping it deep into the aquifer.