Govt green-lights mine with call for Adani to make good on regional jobs pledge for Queenslanders
Construction on Adani’s $2 billion Carmichael coal mine will begin within weeks after Queensland’s Environment Department gave the company’s final management plan the green light.
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CONSTRUCTION on Adani’s $2 billion Carmichael coal mine will begin within weeks after Queensland’s Environment Department gave the company’s final management plan the green light.
After nine years, during which the polarising mine was scaled back and Adani forced to jump through environmental hoops, its groundwater plan was given the all-clear.
It follows a regional Queensland backlash, with mining communities incensed by green activist Bob Brown’s anti-Adani convoy and Labor punished at the federal election.
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Adani CEO Lucas Dow said the first Carmichael coal could be exported in two years once the mine and the planned rail line were built.
A royalties deal will also need to be struck between Adani and the State Government, with a date to be agreed by the end of this month.
“What’s going to happen over the next few days is we’re undertaking preparatory works which include site inductions, ensuring that we’ve got all the safety protocols in place, and that we’re going to meet all … environmental requirements, obviously mobilising equipment to site, finalising contracts and agreements and continuing with the recruitment activities,” Mr Dow said.
Adani submitted the most recent version of its groundwater plan for the Galilee Basin mine on Wednesday after the Government requested more information.
Strict conditions have been included in the approval, with Adani to undertake environmental work including improving the understanding of the source aquifers in the area.
The Government has been criticised over the handling of the approvals process, including ordering an 11th-hour review of Adani’s black-throated finch management plan.
That backlash hurt Federal Labor after the Coalition approved the groundwater management plan on the eve of the election campaign, putting the ball firmly back in the Palaszczuk Government’s court.
State Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch yesterday stared down the criticism.
Flanked by Deputy Premier Jackie Trad – who has been painted as the chief Adani detractor within the Government – Ms Enoch rose in Parliament to confirm the final approval and took a swipe at the miner for its behaviour during the process.
“Our state has some of the most rigorous environmental protections in the country. We do not apologise for that,” she said. “Unfortunately to date Adani has not always engaged with the department in the same constructive way that other major resources companies have done. I hope that this is not an indication of how the company will approach their future obligations.”
Labor hopes the approval will neutralise regional unrest.
Last month, multiple regional MPs called for action in the lead-up to the federal poll after backlash from voters.
The election loss sparked an open revolt with party elders weighing in amid rumblings of a leadership challenge.
The backlash led to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk declaring she was “fed up” with her own Government’s handling of Adani and ordered the Co-ordinator-General to intervene.
The approval was met with derision from conservation groups, who vowed to keep up mass protests and legal action.
Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington praised Adani for persevering after being treated like a “political football”.
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