The Australian electorate is split between the tantalising concept of jobs from coal and other mining and the diabolical warnings of climate collapse that are coming from international scientific bodies that are saying we need to leave fossil fuels like coal in the ground. The swing to the Liberal National coalition on the one hand and the direct election of independents who ran on platforms of addressing climate change during the federal elections clearly demonstrates the challenge now facing both the federal and state governments.
So the move by the Queensland state Labor government should not be a knee jerk reaction to approve Adani but a clear, thought through process that takes into consideration all the competing needs of both the short-term gain and long-term sustainability of the planet.
However, according to former Greens leader Bob Brown the demands of Adani are ‘that there be a decision within a fortnight and that that decision is for the mega coal mine to go ahead’.
‘This makes a farce of due process,’ he said.
‘This mine, and the potential opening up of six more mines in the Galilee coal basin, affects the future of every Australian. The future of the Murray-Darling food bowl, our snowfields, the Great Barrier Reef and the whole of the Australian coastline is at stake in our era of climate emergency.
‘After an election in which the prime minister Scott Morrison did not mention Adani, and so has no mandate, popular opposition to accelerating global warming through opening new coal mines like Adani will only grow,’ Bob Brown said.
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