The Queensland Labor government’s decision to enact new anti-protest laws to protect new coal and gas projects is a reminder of who the government believes it is in power to serve, writes Margaret Gleeson.
Margaret Gleeson
Lock the Gate Alliance has warned that a recently announced federal government review of current mining assessment regulation will further reduce regional communities’ ability to fight inappropriate and unwanted resource exploitation.
Federal resources minister Matt Canavan announced at the NSW Minerals Council conference on August 5 that the government had asked the Productivity Commission to hold a 12-month review into what he thinks is the over-regulation of the resources sector.
Stop Adani activists held a week of protests at the end of July targeting multinational engineering design and construction consultant GHD.
The Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council lost its Federal Court challenge against Adani on July 12, NAIDOC day. But it is not giving up the fight.
The “final” approvals for Adani’s Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin in Central Queensland have proven to be a flickering green light, at best. Persistent challenges by the Environment Defenders Office Queensland (EDO) and Lock the Gate Alliance appear to have borne fruit.
Despite widespread opposition to new coal, state governments gave final approval to two mines last month. As community opposition to new coal mines has grown, the mining lobby is fighting back demanding state governments cut funding to environmental defenders.
Following the Queensland government’s approval of Adani’s conservation plan for the endangered black-throated finch and its groundwater management plan, the company again announced it would start work on its Carmichael coalmine project “within weeks”. But it faces several more obstaces, not least of which is the huge social movement gearing up for the next stage of its campaign.
While Australia was in the throes of a federal election campaign, the United Nations released a report warning that nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history.
The Environment Defenders Office Queensland (EDO QLD) announced on June 12 that in a huge win for its client the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), the federal government has conceded the case brought against it over Adani’s North Galilee Water Scheme — the plan to pump up to 12.5 billion litres of water a year from the Suttor River to Adani’s Carmichael mine site.
Federal minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan wants the Adani mine to be the pathfinder to open up the whole Galilee Basin, but some mining companies are pulling out.
The Federal Court reserved its decision on May 28 and adjourned so parties can consider a complex administrative issue that could mean that an appeal by Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council (W&J) against Adani could be thrown out.
More than 100 Stop Adani activists from around Australia participated in a webinar on May 22 to share initial reflections on the way forward for the campaign post election.
- Previous page
- Page 4
- Next page