2016-02-03
The Queensland Labor Government's approval of the Adani Carmichael mine is a climate pollution disaster, which threatens our Great Barrier Reef and groundwater, and delays genuine job creation.
Qld Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens Deputy Leader and climate change spokesperson, said:
"It is unbelievable in this age of global warming that any government would give environmental approval for a new coal mine, let alone the largest coal mine in the Southern Hemisphere run by an overseas company with a history of environmental destruction.
"The almost half a million in donations to Labor and the Coalition by the fossil fuel industry in 2014-15 revealed this week perhaps explains why both big parties fall over themselves to approve new coal in the face of all scientific and economic sense.
"This massive climate-pollution bomb requires dredging and would turn our Reef into a highway for shipping coal, then cook it when that coal is burnt, threatening this precious and job-rich World Heritage Area with coral bleaching and ocean acidification.
"The Carmichael coal mine would be the Southern Hemisphere's largest, with a plan to export 60 million tonnes of coal a year, suck up Queensland's precious groundwater and threaten the black throated finch with extinction.
"Adani hasn't come up with any finance and 11 international banks and 2 domestic banks have indicated they won't be putting up the money for this white elephant.
"As well as tipping in Queensland taxpayer money to the Abbot Point port, Labor is pushing for federal funding to prop up the mine's infrastructure.
"The Federal Government needs to rule out throwing taxpayer money into this financially unviable mine, which makes no economic sense, as the coal price slumps and the world embraces the clean energy future.
"Queensland urgently needs a transition plan to move into the clean energy future, which will provide jobs that will last for the thousands of coal workers currently losing their jobs in this dying industry, and protect the tens of thousands of workers in agriculture and tourism from the ravages of global warming" Senator Waters said.