Protest-hit Adani says prosecute the ‘zealots’

Adani wants zealot protesters prosecuted after deliveries to its north Qld port were disrupted for more than 24 hours.

Adani protests in north Queensland have been called “illegal, unsafe and far from peaceful”. Picture: AAP

Adani wants to see “anti-coal zealots” prosecuted after deliveries to its north Queensland port were disrupted for more than 24 hours, warning lives could be lost unless the protests stop.

Police yesterday clashed with Extinction Rebellion — a British-based group advocating a “citizens uprising” against fossil fuels — following a 19-hour stand-off with a young woman who stopped coal trains by suspending her herself from a tree above the railway near Collinsville.

The 28-year-old was removed from the tree about 12.30pm, prompting more protesters to storm the tracks, with one locking themselves to a train.

Abbot Point operations chief executive Dwayne Freeman said Adani respected the right to “peaceful protests”, but these were “illegal, unsafe and far from peaceful”. Fully loaded coal trains can take up to 2km to stop when the emergency brake is used.

A Fraser Institute survey of global mining companies showed Queensland slipped from the 12th to 13th most attractive of 83 jurisdictions, dragged down by poor marks for environmental regulation.

Miners cautioned Queensland against sending “mixed messages”, but state Mines Minister ­Anthony Lynham said Labor had “the right policy settings” to lure capital.

Greens MP Michael Berkman said: “Listening to mining company CEOs when they ‘rate’ environmental regulation is ridic­ulous.”

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane said: “The less attractive we are for new investment, the less ­potential to create jobs, grow ­exports and earn royalties to pay for services and infrastructure.”