Adani confident Labor will honour environmental approvals for its coal mine

The head of Adani Australia has said he does not believe a Shorten government poses a risk to the company's proposed Carmichael coal mine in central Queensland.

Adani's Carmichael coal mine site in central Queensland in December 2018.

"I think [Federal Labor] has been crystal clear that if they are to form government they won't be in the habit of creating sovereign risk by ripping up the existing approvals," Adani Australia CEO Lucas Dow told 7.30.

He said he was pleased by recent assurances given by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and his Treasury spokesman Chris Bowen.

Read the story from ABC News by Peter McCutcheon - “Adani confident Labor will honour environmental approvals for its coal mine,”

Adani: DFAT facing questions over possible secret requests for foreign cash to fund controversial mine

Key federal crossbenchers have questioned senior government bureaucrats about possible secret approaches to foreign agencies for financial support for Adani's controversial Carmichael coal mine.

Senator Nick Xenophon says "there needs to
 be an open and transparent process" regarding
 the Adani mine.

The questions have been sparked by a Freedom of Information request to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for documents relating to requests for foreign government financing for the controversial multi-billion-dollar mine and rail project.

In response, DFAT asked for more time to respond as the request had "captured several hundred pages of documents”.

Senator Nick Xenophon said he would be demanding clarification from DFAT officials at Senate Estimates today about what representations the Federal Government has made to foreign agencies.

Read the ABC News story - “Adani: DFAT facing questions over possible secret requests for foreign cash to fund controversial mine.”

High and dry': Adani seeks additional surface water to feed giant coal mine

The scale of water demand from Adani's giant coal mine in Queensland appears to be larger than expected, as the company seeks approval for a large, additional flood-harvesting dam.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk
meets Indian billionaire Gautam Adani
 in Townsville last December. 

As Fairfax Media revealed, the company's proposed Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin was last week controversially granted uncapped access to the groundwater in a licence that expired in 2077. 

However, just how much surface water the mine will need remains unclear. Its "external water demand ... is in the order of 12 gigalitres a year", according to its supplementary environmental impact statement (SEIS).

Documents obtained under freedom of information, however, suggest the thirst for water at what would be Australia's biggest coal mine may be even larger.

Read Peter Hannam story in today’s Melbourne Age - “‘High and dry': Adani seeks additional surface water to feed giant coal mine.”

Carmichael mine jumps another legal hurdle, but litigants are making headway

Dr Justine Bell-James.

The Carmichael coal mine planned for Queensland’s Galilee Basin has cleared another legal hurdle, with the state’s Supreme Court dismissing a legal challenge to the validity of the Queensland government’s decision to approve the project.

The court found in favour of the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, ruling that its approval of Indian firm Adani’s proposal was within the rules.

The decision is another setback for environmentalists’ bid to stop the controversial project. But Adani does not yet have a green light to break ground on the project, and legal questions still remain, both about this project and about climate change litigation more generally.

Read The Conversation story by a Lecturer in Law at The University of Queensland, Justine Bell-James - “Carmichael mine jumps another legal hurdle, but litigants are making headway.”

'Evil' mines decision 'defies reason': former chief scientist

The decision on Sunday to approve mining leases for Queensland's Carmichael coal mine is akin to "evil", according to one of the world's foremost marine scientists.

"It defies reason," said Dr Charlie Veron, former chief scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. "I think there is no single action that could be as harmful to the Great Barrier Reef as the Carmichael coal mine."

The $21.7 billion project, which involves mine, rail and port facilities, would allow Indian multinational Adani to extract 60 million tonnes of thermal coal a year from the Galilee Basin, in central Queensland. Adani claims the mine will generate 5000 jobs during construction and more than 4000 during operation, with construction to begin next year.

The decision to grant the leases came after "extensive government and community scrutiny", according to Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

"I know the people of north and central Queensland will welcome this latest progress for the potential jobs and economic development it brings closer for their communities," she said.

But conservationists say the mine is an environmental disaster waiting to happen, citing particular risks to the Great Barrier Reef.

Read the Melbourne Age story - “Decision on coal mine 'defies reason'.”

Go ahead for Carmichael Mine raises concerns from AIMS

Site in Queensland of the
Carmichael Mine
 in Galilee Basin

The Queensland Government has approved mining leases for the $21.7 billion Carmichael coal mine and rail project in the Galilee Basin.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was a major step forward for the project after "extensive government and community scrutiny".

"Some approvals are still required before construction can start and ultimately committing to the project will be a decision from Adani," she said.

She said stringent controls would continue to protect the environment and the Great Barrier Reef, as well as the interests of landholders and traditional owners.

Read the ABC story -“Carmichael coal mine: Mining leases approved for $21 billion project in Queensland's Galilee Basin.”

(I’m confused – Australia’s Environment Minister, Greg Hunt, claims we will “meet and beat” our Paris emission commitments and that the Great Barrier Reef is in good shape. Evidence abounds to contradict those assertions with warming oceans, just one manifestation of climate change, threatening the stability of the reef with today’s approval of the Adani mine having a two-fold effect – first, its operation and associated shipping of coal through the reef is simply plain dangerous and risky in the extreme and second, coal is a known and acknowledged danger to the earth’s atmosphere and rather than opening new mines, we should be closing them down and investing in renewable energy – Robert McLean.)

Dr Federieke Kroon has dared suggest
 some agricultural areas nearest
 the Great Barrier Reef be "retired".

Dangers facing the reef have not passed without comment and an ABC story  - “Great Barrier Reef policies not enough to meet targets set out in Reef 2050 Plan: AIMS” – discusses the difficulties.

Australia looks likely to miss water quality targets set out to keep the Great Barrier Reef on UNESCO's World Heritage list, a senior researcher at the Federal Government's own marine science agency has warned.

Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) principal research scientist Dr Frederieke Kroon has spoken out about environmental policies that were supposed to protect the marine park.

One of the possible solutions suggested by Dr Kroon was about “retiring” agricultural land closest to the reef.