On the first day of the COAG Energy Council meeting in Adelaide yesterday (Tuesday December 18), two citizens entered Senator Matt Canavan’s press conference and stood either side of him bearing #StopAdani signs. Interrupting his opening statements, they asked him why he supports the Adani coal mine.
One of the pair, Donna Smit, 49, said,‘I interrupted Senator Canavan because Queensland is burning up and he wants to fuel the fire’.
‘More coal means our bushfires, droughts and storms will be even more deadly. I want to know why Senator Canavan, in all good conscience, supports the Adani coal mine when scientists are clear we must leave thermal coal deposits in the ground’.
‘Senator Canavan hides behind the minimal jobs the Adani mine will create, as if coal is the only way we can provide for our families. The Adani mine threatens farmers’ livelihoods and the 70,000 jobs reliant on a healthy reef.
‘The federal government must help communities reliant on coal to transition to a cleaner economy of renewable energy,’ she said.
Jamie Dunn, 23, who held the other sign, said, ‘as a young person, the opening up of the Galilee Basin to new coal mining will have a catastrophic effect on my future’.
‘Climate change is the single biggest threat to my generation and Senator Canavan is determined to make it worse. I will not stop until the Galilee Basin is protected from coal mining for good,’ he said.
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