A delegation of Australian citizens is visiting India to deliver a message to Mr Guatam Adani that the Australian community does not want the controversial Carmichael coal mine. The delegation will hand deliver a letter from prominent Australians to Mr Adani.
The Adani Group is attempting to develop the Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin in Central Queensland, Australia. If it proceeds, the mine would produce billions of tonnes of planet-warming pollution and would require a 388km long rail line and the construction of a new coal export terminal at the Abbot Point coal port. The project has been dogged by controversy from the outset amidst concerns by traditional Indigenous landowners as well as environmentalists over the groundwater impacts, and the devastating impact the mine’s pollution will have on global warming and the Great Barrier Reef. Over two million people have actively expressed opposition to this mine and thirteen global banks have ruled out funding it.
The delegation aims to demonstrate to Mr Adani and the Indian community that the Australian people are strongly opposed to the proposed Carmichael coal mine. Australians would welcome Mr Adani’s investment in solar in Australia but remain vehemently opposed to the Adani coal mine which will damage groundwater, our health and our much loved Great Barrier Reef.
One of Australia’s best known business and community leaders, Geoff was one of the most successful advertising men of the 1980s and served as an advisor to Prime Minister John Howard for ten years. His corporate life includes over 26 years as a company director on the board of some of Australia’s largest listed companies including PBL, Telstra and Insurance Australia Group. Mr. Cousins served as first Chief Executive of Optus Vision and held a number of executive positions at George Patterson, including Chief Executive Officer of George Patterson Australia.
In 2014, Mr. Cousins was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for significant services to the community and to the visual and performing arts. He is the founding chair of the kids’ cancer charity Starlight Foundation and Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art.
He got involved in his first successful environmental campaign in 2007, playing a leading role in stopping the proposed $2 billion Gunns pulp mill in Tasmania, followed by the successful campaign in 2013 to stop Woodside Petroleum’s James Price Point gas hub in Western Australia. He currently serves as the President of the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) which is challenging Adani’s proposed Carmichael mine in court over the failure to consider the climate change impacts of the mine. Further information on his history as an environmental campaigner can be found in this feature article on The Corporate Assassin.
Geoff Cousins is participating in the delegation in his personal capacity, not as a representative of the ACF.
A headshot of Mr Cousins can be downloaded here.
Imogen is the Director of the “Fight for Our Reef” campaign for the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS), Australia’s leading marine conservation organisation. She was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to conservation and the environment in 2006.
Before joining AMCS, Imogen led a global shark conservation campaign for The Pew Charitable Trusts based in Washington DC. Imogen had previously led Pew’s Coral Sea initiative in the South Pacific. Before joining Pew in 2007, Imogen was in Berlin leading WWF’s global climate campaign, PowerSwitch! and prior to that, she led WWF’s Great Barrier Reef campaign. In recognition of her achievements on the Reef campaign, Imogen received the Fred M. Packard International Parks Merit Award at the World Conservation Congress in 2004, shared with the late Hon. Virginia Chadwick.
Imogen has led many campaigns in Australia including one to phase out broadscale native vegetation clearing. Imogen was director of the Queensland Conservation Council from 1995 to 2000. From 1992 to 1994 she was environment advisor to the leader of the Australian Democrats. Imogen holds a bachelor’s degree with honours from the University of Victoria in New Zealand and a master’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Adelaide.
A headshot of Ms Zethoven can be downloaded here.
Lindsay runs a business as a tallship tourist operator in the Whitsundays, located in the Great Barrier Reef. She was forced to move her business south when the magnificent fringing coral reef around Magnetic Island was gradually damaged by dredging and effects of climate change which directly impacted the snorkelling opportunities offered to her guests.
Lindsay is concerned about the approval of Adani’s mine and the impact of the burning and export of coal on the Great Barrier Reef, and the mine’s major contribution to global warming. She has already witnessed the irreparable damage to the reef and the effects on her business.
Lindsay is a writer who has authored and co-authored nine books. She has also worked as an academic for over a decade in Queensland and Tasmania.
A headshot of Dr Simpson can be downloaded here.
Bruce is a Queensland grazier who operates a small farming business in Central West Queensland. He moved to his current property because of the risk mining would destroy his previous farming business. Bruce is a passionate Queenslander, concerned about the future of the next generation and the state’s current employment problems. He believes in protecting Australia’s agricultural industry and precious water resources, especially the Great Artesian Basin, and has no faith that his region will benefit from the mining boom.
Bruce, with his wife Annette, who have five children, have twice represented themselves in court against the proposed Alpha and Kevin’s Corner coal mines, being jointly developed by the Indian conglomerate GVK and Hancock Coal. Both mines threaten the Currie’s two critical groundwater bores. If Adani’s Carmichael mine proceeds, its rail line would potentially facilitate other mines in the Galilee Basin area including Alpha and Kevin’s Corner.
A headshot of Mr Currie can be downloaded here.
