Furious minister calls for anti-mining 'professional protesters' to have their dole taken away from them - as police slam the activists for preventing them from fighting real crime QLD MPs have called for protesters using Newstart to have their funds withheld They said there should be tax changes for companies offering financial support QLD Police Union said short-staffed rural police did not have time to 'babysit'By Tom Place For Daily Mail Australia Published: 13:02 BST, 26 May 2019 | Updated: 13:03 BST, 26 May 2019 Viewcomments Ministers have called for 'professional protesters' on the dole to have their welfare money withheld. Protesters travelled to Queensland to protest Adani's planned $2billion coal mine at Carmichael ahead of the Federal Election. Queensland voters responded by swinging towards the Coalition and contributing significantly to Scott Morrison's shock re-election as Prime Minister. Now, Queensland MPs have called for activists who are receiving welfare money to have the payments stopped, the Sunday Mail reported. Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers (right) said protesters actions putting public safety at risk by stretching police resources Protesters travelled to Queensland to protest Adani's planned $2billion coal mine at Carmichael ahead of the Federal Election 'Newstart is funded by taxpayers, who would expect recipients to use it for its intended purpose of supporting them while they look for work, not supporting them in a lifestyle of being a full-time protester,' Social Services Minister Paul Fletcher said. Queensland Police were also highly critical of what they called professional protesters with Union president Ian Leavers adding that their actions were putting public safety at risk by stretching police resources. 'Police in these regional and rural areas are short-staffed at the best of times and these professional protesters and their complete disregard for economic loss are tying up valuable police time,' Mr Leavers said. 'Which means real police work to keep the community safe and tackle crime is not able to be done.' 'Police just wish they'd move on to their next professional protest in some other state and let us get back to real policing duties instead of babysitting people who should know better,' he said. Social Services Minister and Liberal MP Paul Fletcher said the Newstart program was not for supporting their 'lifestyle' as full-time protesters The recent Adani protests led by former federal Greens leader Bob Brown were out in force prior to the May 18 election. Protesters visited Clermont, which is the closest town to Adani's planned Carmichael mine. Greends founder Bob Brown and his pals believed a 2,000km convoy into Queensland's coal heartland would sway the opinions of locals. Despite their best efforts to promote the potential problems the mine may cause to the climate (left), many Queensland locals focused on the positive impact the mine will have on industry and jobs (right) Greens founder Bob Brown (pictured) led a convoy of left-wing supporters on a tour across Queensland in an effort to convince locals to vote against Adani When the convoy entered Queensland towns, locals turned out in droves to tell the greenies to go home - and then waited to make their fury felt at the ballot box. The reactions on the locals' faces shows exactly why Labor - which refused to give as straight answer about the Adani coal mine as they courted Green votes in the inner suburbs - was left without a single seat north of Brisbane. Mr Brown's convoy began its tour throughout Queensland's coal country on April 23, with the ex-Greens leader even saying Adani was 'a litmus test of Australia's intelligence'. At the time, he said he expected to receive a warm welcome in communities worried about job losses because the Great Barrier Reef would die in a warming world. The Adani coal mine will be built at Galilee Basin (pictured), some 500kms west of Mackay Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility