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Australian environmentalists have been protesting for months now against Adani Group’s $16bn Carmichael coal mine and rail project to be built in the Galilee Basin, located in central Queensland.
This week, eight religious leaders added their voices to those of activists opposing the project. But they are doing more than just chanting slogans. They decided to occupy the electorate office of Josh Frydenberg, Australia’s Environment Minister, and they are vowing to stay there until the official withdraws his support for the mine.
People rejecting what would be one of the world’s largest thermal coal mines say it could potentially harm the Great Barrier Reef and vulnerable species including a lizard known as the yakka skink and the black-throated finch.
Earlier this year, Christian, Buddhist, and Jewish leaders penned an open letter where they blasted Adani and asked Frydenberg to reevaluate the plan. However, according to Rabbi Keren-Black, the Minister didn’t respond to their petitions and that’s why they decided to take action.
“We do not feel that the response has been sufficient,” Keren-Black told The Guardian.
As the first day of occupation was taking place inside the minister’s office, outside about a dozen religious leaders were holding a symbolic “funeral for coal.” Participants from various faiths presented eulogies and ended up saying that it is now “time to leave it in the ground.”
Official figures estimate that the mine will contribute $2.97bn each year to Queensland’s economy and has the potential to create 6,400 new jobs. The mine is expected to produce 60 million tonnes of thermal coal a year for export, which would fuel power generation for 100 million Indians.
3 Comments
Altaf
One more drama. Everybody is riding Adani issue to their 5 minute glory. Is the system down under run by government or its a free for all? Look at the faces. They look as if some one gave them a free lunch and asked them to hold the playcards. I dont understand.
Chinese investments in Australia is running like blood in viens. Nobody lifts a finger at them. The only Indian investment is opposed by every one. Is this some kind of resistance or some well financed system working behind the curtains?
Eugene Ennin
This is a massive shake up! Religious Leaders going on Street? That’s quiet ok.Where else in Africa could this happened?
Jonathan Keren-Black
Eugene, Australia is not in Africa. We are demonstrating because we feel a moral obligation to prevent further coal mines going ahead. It is quite clear that we can’t even burn all the coal from existing mines if we are to stay below 1.5 degrees average warming (the Paris accord goal). Adani commissioned figures are 1459 direct jobs. The huge public financing (including building a new railway to ship the coal to the port, billions of litres of free water annually) shows that it can’t be done unless it is subsidised. A small proportion of this money invested in renewables could provide more and cleaner new jobs. The Indigenous land owners have not given permission and do not want this development. The Indian government has made it clear it does not want the coal (low grade thermal). Grid-based electricity is too expensive to install. Local solar/wind is already far cheaper (in Australian terms $50/MWh compared to up to $203 for new solar – without CCS). And World Health Organisation figures show that hundreds of thousands of Indians will die prematurely from the effects of burning the coal from this new mine alone. On top of all this, the Great Barrier Reef, one of the ‘protected’ Wonders of the World, will be hugely further damaged. Already in 2015 and 2016 it has suffered massive bleaching (probably largely irreversible) from warming and consequently also more acidic seas. On top of this, 500 ships will pass through the reef annually bringing out the coal. These are reasons why we must STOP ADANI’S REEF-WRECKING MEGA-MINE!