Adani coal mine poses 'alarming' risk to sacred wetlands, traditional owners say

Traditional owners who are fighting the Adani mine in central Queensland say they welcome scientists' concerns about impacts on the Doongmabulla Springs but do not trust any government to ensure the miner protects their sacred wetlands.

Little Moses springs and its surrounds is
about 7 kilometres from the mine site.

The ABC this week became the first media organisation to visit the remote springs complex — one of the world's last unspoiled desert oases — which are at the centre of a controversial Morrison Government decision that thrust Adani forward as a federal election issue.

The trip to the nationally important wetlands was at the invitation of a determined group of mine opponents within the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) people, who have vowed to take their fight all the way to The Hague.

Read the ABC News story by Josh Robertson - “Adani coal mine poses 'alarming' risk to sacred wetlands, traditional owners say.”

(Asked at the April gathering of Shepparton’s Beneath the Wisteria about, Nicholls candidate and Murray electorate incumbent, Damian Drum, said the Adani mine had the support of Australia’s indigenous people, but obviously he was handling the truth rather loosely - Robert McLean)

Richard Di Natale and the Greens' moment of truth

Richard Di Natale has spent the past three days driving an electric car up the North Coast of NSW. While Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten officially paused their election campaigning over the Easter weekend, the Greens leader has been protesting against the Adani mine in an anti-coal convoy.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale at Parliament House. 

Di Natale is not taking a break, because he feels there is no time to lose.

"Climate change matters more than anything else at this election because it is, quite literally, an existential threat to humanity," he told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. 

"This has got to be a climate change election because we're running out of time.”

The 2019 election is also a critical election for the Greens and their position in the parliamentary ecosystem. Six of the party's nine senators are up for re-election, with three of them, Sarah Hanson-Young in South Australia, Larissa Waters in Queensland and Mehreen Faruqi in NSW, facing tough battles to retain their seats.

Read the story from The Age by Judith Ireland - “Richard Di Natale and the Greens' moment of truth.”

Environment Minister ordered Adani meeting the day colleagues lobbied for approval

Environment Minister Melissa Price ordered a sudden meeting between scientists and her department over the Adani mine the day her Queensland colleagues demanded the government progress a critical federal approval, it has emerged.

Federal Environment Minister Melissa Price was under
pressure to sign off on the Adani project before the election.

The Department of the Environment and Energy has confirmed that Ms Price, rather than bureaucrats, requested controversial meetings between senior department staff and two scientific agencies, CSIRO and Geoscience Australia, to discuss changes to Adani's contentious groundwater management plan.

Read the story from The Age by Nicole Hasham - “Environment Minister ordered Adani meeting the day colleagues lobbied for approval.”

The truth as opposed to what Melissa Price says.

Today, the misnamed Minister for the Environment, Melissa Price, announced that, on the advice of the CSIRO and Geoscience Australia, she was approving the Adani mine.

Environment Minister, Melissa Price.

That is completely untrue.

Read the story from AIM by Kaye Lee - “The truth as opposed to what Melissa Price says.”

Queensland Investment Corporation denies planning to fund Galilee coal mines

A Queensland Government investment vehicle has held talks about investing in the Galilee Basin coal mining region, raising speculation it may help bankroll infrastructure for the controversial Adani mine.

Documents show QIC has at least discussed
the prospect of investing in the Galilee Basin.

The Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), established by the state government, held discussions with the Queensland Treasury in February about the prospect of QIC investing in projects that would mine, transport or export coal from the Galilee Basin region, documents released under the state's Right to Information laws show.

The documents were almost entirely redacted, with the Queensland Treasury determining that releasing details would prejudice QIC's business interests as the information "could be used by a competitor to cause commercial harm to the QIC and/or disadvantage QIC in the pursuit of the investment in potential projects”.

Read ABC News story - “Queensland Investment Corporation denies planning to fund Galilee coal mines.”

Adani mine 'not a positive thing for Australia', Labor's Mark Butler says

The shadow climate change minister, Mark Butler, has blasted the idea that the commonwealth could finance new coal-fired power stations, and is holding to Labor’s declaration that it will not support a clean energy target if coal is in the mix.

The Bayswater power station near the NSW town of Muswellbrook.
 Labor frontbencher Mark Butler says Labor will not support
commonwealth funding for coal power.

In an interview with Guardian Australia’s politics live podcast, Butler has also articulated a significantly tougher line on the controversial Adani coalmine than the Labor leader, Bill Shorten – saying it would “not be a positive thing for Australia for the Adani mine to go ahead”.

Butler says he can “understand why the Queensland government might be pressing [the Carmichael coal mine development] but from a national perspective, I just don’t think it stacks up.”

Read the story by Katharine Murphy on The Guardian - “Adani mine 'not a positive thing for Australia', Labor's Mark Butler says.”