The tightly cropped image,taken during Labor's national conference in November,captures the moment when a protesterstormed the stage to derail Mr Shorten's opening address,and shows the Opposition Leader grasping a red Stop Adani flag as he tries to remove it.
But in the billboard – which places the photograph next to a quote in which Mr Shorten voiced his opposition to Adani's Carmichael project – there is no sign of the protester,who moments later would be hauled out of the venue by security.
Critics have condemned the billboard as a misuse of political advertising after Liberal National senator for Queensland Matt Canavan posted a photograph of it on social media,boasting it had"just gone up in Rockhampton to remind everyone – including Bill – what he actually said".
"Labor just can't be trusted,"Senator Canavan,who is federal Resources Minister,wrote.
The billboard is in the ultra-marginal electorate of Capricornia,held by Liberal National MP Michelle Landry,which would house the proposed mine.
It will be a key battleground at the federal election along with fellow north Queensland coal seats Dawson,Herbert and Flynn,as jobs,energy and environment policy firm up as key concerns for voters heading into the May 18 federal election.