Chris McGrath writes in The Conversation (22.9.14): ‘In shades of the Bjelke-Petersen era, Queensland mines minister Andrew Cripps made fundamental changes one minute before the mining bill was passed by the Parliament at 11.57pm, just shy of midnight.’
He cites one farmer: ‘It feels as if there’s been a takeover of the Government by the mining industry. It’s a bit like a coup – it’s not a military coup, it’s a minerals coup.’