Terrible news -- but we have a plan. The Australian government has re-approved the Carmichael mine, and we need to fight it in court. Twelve weeks ago GetUp members helped beat the monstrous Carmichael Mine in Federal Court. It was a historic victory that reverberated across the world. But the environment minister Greg Hunt has just rushed through a new approval, and Adani has the all-clear to build one of the biggest coal mines in the world. This coal mine will devastate our climate, our Great Barrier Reef, and our economy. The mine will spew out more carbon pollution than all the cars, planes and trains in Australia combined.
It will drain 12 billion litres of precious groundwater. It will be built without the free, prior, and informed consent of the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners. It will hold back our economy and lock us into a dirty, polluting, out-of-date mine when the rest of the world is moving on.
Can you help fight this hideous, destructive mine in court? https://www.getup.org.au/carmichael
This is a dumb, cowardly approval, but we had an awful feeling it would happen. So we've been working behind the scenes with lawyers and experts to examine it closely. They say a case against the approval could have strong prospects of success.
We're still working with our movement partners to decide exactly which litigant will take the case, and who will play which roles -- we'll keep you posted with every update. It's likely we'll be supporting both environment lawyers and conservation groups, like we did with the Mackay Conservation Group challenging the mine the first time.
But we can only make it happen if we have enough money to afford the huge amount of research, barristers and legal fees we need to fight the coal giant's mine in court.
We're confident this can be a strong legal challenge. But if for any reason the case doesn't get off the ground, we'll offer you a full refund.
Every contribution gets us closer to raising what we need to finish this godforsaken project once and for all.
We've done it before and we can do it again. For the climate. For the Reef. For our future.
Sam R and Adam, for the GetUp team
PS - GetUp has a strong history of taking on huge targets in court, and winning. In 2010, GetUp made a High Court challenge that helped get 100,000 young people enrolled to vote. Last year, 14,000 GetUp members chipped-in to fight off Greg Hunt's Abbot Point coal teminal approval, twice. Let's do it again.
Other coverage:
Australia approves controversial Carmichael coal mine - BBC News
Adani Carmichael mine in Queensland gets another green light from Coalition - The Guardian
Adani Carmichael: Australia's largest coal mine free to proceed after Greg Hunt gives approval - Sydney Morning Herald
Australian govt clears Adani's Carmichael coal mine – Business Standard (India)
Outrage
Conservationists are seething at what the government claims is "possibly the most exhaustive environmental assessment" in the country's history.
While the number of conditions is similar to the previous approval, environment minister Hunt said extra elements had been added.
The tick-off came as little surprise to the Queensland Resources Council, which condemned the green lobby's "exploitation" of a legal loophole.
"The activists' delaying tactics are preventing the creation of jobs and the financial benefits that flow into regional communities," the Chief Executive of the Queensland Resources Council said.
The Mackay Conservation Group, which launched a January legal challenge to the approvals, says the minister is ignoring new evidence. “Minister Hunt’s reapproval risks threatened species, precious groundwater, the global climate and taxpayers’ money. Minister Hunt has again failed the people of
Australia by failing to address new evidence on the devastating impacts. Hunt’s new conditions do not adequately deal with the seriousness of the implications of this mine. Simply put, these impacts are very serious, and can’t be offset. The mine should have been refused."
Traditional land owners the Wangan Jagalingou denounced the decision as "a travesty".
The Australian Conservation Foundation lambasted it as "grossly irresponsible". “Hunt’s approval of what could become one of the world’s largest coal mines sets back global efforts to combat climate change. To approve a massive coal mine that would make species extinct, deplete 297 billion litres of precious groundwater and produce 128.4 million tonnes of CO2 a year is grossly irresponsible. At a time when the world is desperately seeking cleaner energy options this huge new coal mine will make the effort to combat climate change all the more difficult. Tens of thousands of ACF supporters from all over Australia have written to Greg Hunt, asking him to reject the Carmichael mine once and for all. Just as Woodside lost its social license to build a gas factory at James Price Point in the Kimberley, most Australians do not want Adani to dig a massive coal mine and export the coal across the Great Barrier Reef. "ACF will scrutinise this approval decision and carefully consider our options. We will use all appropriate means to stop this mine."
The Australian Marine Conservation Society feared for the health of the Great Barrier Reef due to increased dredging and shipping."
Tell Resources
Minister Josh
Frydenberg: No money for Adani! "Without federal
assistance, Adani's Carmichael coal mine and Abbot Point coal port are as good
as cooked. When asked about funding Adani's coal project on Radio National this
morning, Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg suggested, "Adani needs to
stand on its own two feet... it wouldn't be a priority project for the
Commonwealth." They're encouraging words, but it's far from a concrete
promise. If enough of us reach out right now, we can show Minister Frydenberg
just how popular a solid commitment would be. It could be enough to get him
over the line. Can you email Josh Frydenberg's office and ask him to
rule out Government handouts for Adani?
Greens Senator Larissa Waters: "The Coalition Government's coal obsession is clearly continuing under Malcolm Turnbull. The world is desperately trying to avert catastrophic global warming, and yet the Turnbull Government has ticked off on what would become Australia's largest coal mine. This climate disaster is set to turn the Great Barrier Reef into a highway for coal ships; suck up Queensland's precious groundwater and threaten the black throated finch with extinction. Queensland needs a rapid transition to the jobs-rich clean energy economy of the future, not new polluting coal mines. It's as toxic to investors as it is to the environment - Adani has no finance for the project and 15 international banks have distanced themselves from it. The rest of the world is turning away from coal, including India, which plans to end coal imports by 2017.”