Anti-Adani activists vow to ‘ramp up’ resistance

Conservationists are expected to launch a wave of litigation and civil disobedience in a bid to disrupt construction of the Adani mine.

Galilee Blockade spokesman Ben Pennings has promised to ramp up the resistance and go beyond ‘socially approved’ means to fight the mine. Picture: Jamie Hanson

Conservationists are expected to launch a wave of litigation and civil disobedience in a bid to disrupt construction of the Adani mine, which regional leaders have welcomed as the start of a Galilee Basin mining boom.

While anti-Adani campaigners have long been a distraction for the company, activists yesterday vowed to increase “civil resistance” in the wake of the state environment department’s approval for the controversial project.

Dozens of protesters have been arrested in north Queensland over the past few years for their blockade of Adani’s infrastructure.

Galilee Blockade spokesman Ben Pennings yesterday promised to ramp up the resistance and go beyond “socially approved” means to fight the mine.

“We believe politics has failed us and it’s time for more of a civil resistance strategy,” Mr Pennings told The Australian.

“People campaigned hard and got arrested to save Fraser Island … the Daintree and the Franklin and they are now seen as heroes.

“We believe we have to ramp up our process so that a majority of people will be listened to.”

Mr Pennings said the resistance would be “won or lost on the streets of Brisbane’’, rather than the mine site.

But Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill, who welcomed the prospect of more Adani contracts for city businesses, issued a warning to conservationists.

“We have a democratic society and none of us are against that but what we are against is when people refuse to accept the umpire’s decision and where they actively put their lives and the lives of others at risk because of irresponsible behaviour,” Ms Hill said yesterday.

Ms Hill said the approval was good news for jobs.

“It’s not about that particular mine, it’s about what it means to the Galilee Basin,” she said. “We have about half a dozen opportunities for mines in that basin.

“If there are from 500 to 1000 people needed to operate the mine, we could be looking at 6000 to 7000 jobs in the region.

“We want to see some locals getting out there and saying: ‘I work for Adani.’ ”

Australian Industry Group Queensland boss Shane Rodgers said “sanity had finally prevailed” in the decision-making process, which was being closely observed by overseas investors.

“We cannot let the extremes of philosophical discussion derail a sensible approach to transitioning industry in a way that supports families and addresses important environment and climate change issues,” Mr Rodgers said.

Queensland Greens MP Michael Berkman said the department’s approval would not be the end of the anti-Adani movement.

“Labor’s meltdown and capitulation to coal billionaires won’t make an entire movement of ­people disappear. We’re just getting started,” Mr Berkman said.

Mining magnate Clive Palmer, who has tenements in the Galilee Basin, said the government’s delayed approvals had cost the state billions of dollars in royalties.

Mr Palmer accused Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk of being a “turncoat” for appearing to show indifference towards the mine but then expediting the process after a backlash against federal Labor.

Lock the Gate Alliance said Adani’s groundwater management plan was “deeply flawed”.