Coal

Protesters rallied outside the Sydney CBD and Parramatta offices of multinational engineering corporation GHD on July 30. GHD was recently awarded the contract for the engineering design for Adani's huge coal mine slated for the Galilee Basin, in central Queensland.

Stop Adani activists blockaded Adani’s Abbot Point Road on July 22.

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.

Protesters gathered outside the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) on July 16 to urge it and the Coalition state government to save the precious Bylong Valley, in Central West NSW, from a new thermal coalmine.

South Korean company KEPCO is proposing to open up a mine that would have drastic impacts on local agriculture and water and the iconic natural and cultural heritage of the region, including Aboriginal sacred sites.

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.

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 furious commentary accusing the federal Labor Party of losing the election because it was “too left” and “tone deaf” to the importance of coal is disputed by those who are closer to the ground, writes Pip Hinman.

A Queensland magistrate has declared that climate change is not an extraordinary emergency, in finding an anti-Adani protester guilty of three charges related to his blockading of coal trains.

While the Queensland government moves to fast-track approvals for the delayed Adani coal mine in the Galilee Basin, thermal coal export forecasts continue to show a terminal decline globally in the long term, consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The Queensland Coordinator General has recommended Pembroke Resources' new Olive Downs coal project be allowed to leave three un-rehabilitated pit voids on the Isaac River flood plain after the mine closes.