[19], In short, there is a significant mining operation, by a large publicly listed Australian owned mining company, which has been operating for over 15 years and proposes to continue operations for more than a decade into the future by way of a further expansion. Best practice for bulldozing include lowering speed limits, minimising distances travelled and applying water and dust suppressants, while best practice for blasting involved restricting blast times to coincide with favourable weather conditions, and minimising the area blasted. Ask Amazon Alexa for the latest SBS News or listen to SBS Radio.

More green tape in the form of better assessment processes are needed. “We’re going headlong into a potential disaster.”. Production was meant to commence in 2014, with an initial output of 2 million tonnes per annum, rising to 60 million tonnes per annum in 2022. Public opposition made some of the world's largest banks, including Australia's four biggest banks, pull out of the project.".

The federal government may have an argument to interfere with green tape in Queensland, not because it takes too long and is too costly, but because of state incompetence. Australia produced 503 million tonnes of coal in 2016. After eight years and A$3 billion spent by the Indian company, what was once planned to be the world’s biggest coal mine with a capital cost of A$16 billion has been dramatically scaled down as financial backers retreated amid a concerted campaign by green activists. “The federal election was definitely a wake-up call to everyone,” Ms Palaszczuk said. Asked “Should the Government allow the opening of new coal mines?”, 37% of respondents answered yes, down from 45% in June, according to an Australian National University survey of more than 3,000 people released on Tuesday. Essentially the same evidence exposed in the case was given in a letter to Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) in 2011, yet the judgement showed little has been done to alleviate the plight of the community over six years. “Nearly every Australian has been touched by these fires and many of us will be living with the effects for years and years to come,” the survey’s lead researcher Nicholas Biddle said in the statement. Adani is an Indian multinational company, with businesses around the world in sectors such as energy, resources and agribusiness. "Adani wants to dig millions of truckloads of coal out of the earth, burn the coal, release massive amounts of climate pollution into the air, which would contribute to more savage droughts, fires and floods.". Camberwell is a village in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia which is surround by six coal mines. Evidence to this effect was presented in a submission on the Enquiry into Queensland Government Administration. “This is a net negative review of the prime minister and substantial decline in his popularity from 5.25 out of 10” in June.

[24], To use a card playing analogy, it would seem to be a ‘lay down misere’ that the Stage 3 expansion should proceed. Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA), Solar Insiders Podcast: The day South Australia became 100% solar fuelled, JinkoSolar enters US battery market with residential and large-scale offerings, Rooftop solar set to continue growth in 2021, and take batteries and EVs along for the ride, Tesla lifts Supercharging rate in Australia to 52c/kWh, “Climate fraud”: German EV support boosting sales of big SUV hybrids, Tesla begins roll out of full self driving to small group of testers, https://www.change.org/p/malcolm-turnbull-help-fight-for-a-constitutional-law-giving-us-the-right-to-a-healthy-environment-trtahe.

Indeed the evidence of flawed health processes is there for all to see with the development of black lung disease in coal miners. Agricultural run-off, port dredging and damage from boat anchors have all taken their toll, yet he says the biggest threat is from climate change bleaching the spectacular coral white—a phenomenon that scientists say has intensified in recent years due to warming oceans. The two-week survey began Jan. 20; it didn’t provide a margin of error. Have a confidential tip for our reporters? While recent rains have finally extinguished most of the blazes that plagued the nation, Australia is still counting the economic and environmental cost of the unprecedented wildfire season. Queensland’s environment department confirmed it was assessing the new applications to mine about 1.6m tonnes a year of metallurgical coal at a site of about 800 hectares. Dr David Shearman AM FRACP is Hon. It is important that all governments and politicians read the revelations in the judgement. An associated company, Coal of Queensland Holdings, collapsed last year. Will there ever be a federal government with the vision and ability to establish a National EPA that could discourage inappropriate actions of companies seeking favour from eminent hospitals? What happens if Donald Trump refuses to concede the US election? By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS. "There has been blatant political interference in relation to this issue over the last week, with LNP threats against the environment minister and hurried meetings between the Adani CEO with the prime minister," spokeswoman Carmel Flint said. The present system is a farce and a danger to health. In relation to Air pollution the Judge said: “I have no doubt that [residents] have been greatly inconvenienced and impacted by dust produced by the mine and given their evidence, it is quite possible EA limits with respect to dust and particulate matter have been exceeded”. The Adani Abbot Point deepwater coal port near Bowen, Queensland, Australia. [587], “Evidence from nearby residents …indicate that dust has been an ongoing issue for them since NAC began its open cut coal mining operations some 15 years ago. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Concern that the project could collapse spurred the conservative government to offer Adani A$1 billion to help fund a 120-mile rail link from the Galilee to Abbot Point, a deepwater coal port. “People seem to have the view that if they shut our projects down, all the problems of the world would be solved,” said Dow. Yet there’s a limit to how far Shorten is willing to antagonize the coal industry. The survey showed the amount of people who believe global warming or the greenhouse effect will have an effect on them has risen to 72% from 56% in 2008. That could mean the fight against Adani and other future coal projects in Australia is left to increasingly frustrated environmentalists. During the election campaign, a convoy of protesters rallied against the Carmichael project, drawing thousands of supporters in the major cities before heading to the proposed mine site. Just make it LAW that the Federal Government has to oversee and supervise the states to ensure every persons right to a healthy environment. The move to revive mining plans, though at this stage on a smaller scale, will come as a surprise given that the project, once valued by its proponents at $800m, was subject to a failed sale last year. The company’s phone number has been disconnected. For example, the Canadian province of Alberta provides a 24-hour average TSP criterion of 100 μg/m3, while California and Scotland provide annual average PM10 criteria that are equal to or less than 20 μg/m3 – some of the most stringent in the world. Photographer: Tara Lambourne/Sea Shepherd. The Adani mine is among the many issues being credited for handing the Coalition the reins of government for another three years following the surprising 2019 federal election result. There are at least a dozen large operational mines in the vicinity, with three more in the construction phase. Its mixed messaging on the project was blamed for the electoral backlash, with some Labor insiders saying the party didn't do enough to convince voters it was pro-coal.