High profile delegation of Australian citizens to deliver letter to Adani in India.
- Delegation including Queensland farmer, tourism operator and reef campaigner deliver prominent Australians ‘No Adani Coal Mine’ letter to Adani HQ.
- Ex-Australian Cricket captains Ian and Greg Chappell sign on, plus top business, cultural, academic and community leaders.
At the same time as the Queensland Premier and six regional mayors visit India to promote the controversial Adani megamine, a high profile delegation of Australian citizens have left for India to deliver a letter from 90 eminent Australians to billionaire Gautam Adani to say Australians want clean energy, not a new coal mine.
Eminent Australians who have signed the open letter include senior business leaders, sporting legends, Australians of the Year, authors, musicians, scientists, economists, artists and community leaders. Names include Ian and Greg Chappell, Missy Higgins, Tim Winton, Peter Garrett AM and businessmen Mark Burrows, John Mullen and Mark Joiner.
The delegation will deliver the letter to Mr Adani and tour India to meet with politicians, business representatives and civil society leaders. It comprises: Geoff Cousins AM, one of Australia’s highest profile business and community leaders, reef tourism operator Dr Lindsay Simpson, Queensland farmer Bruce Currie and Imogen Zethoven AO, renowned conservationist and Reef campaigner for the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS). Full biographies, headshots and related photos below.
Businessman Geoff Cousins AM says, “The Queensland Premier and Mayors are on a dangerous junket to promote a damaging project. We are in India to tell Adani that Australians do not want this coal mine and will continue to fight it tooth and nail.
“Coal is a dirty, dying industry and polls show the majority of Australians are appalled that Adani is getting a $1 billion handout of public money to finance a project banks won’t touch. We would welcome Adani’s investment in solar instead.”
Whitsunday tourism reef operator Dr Lindsay Simpson says, “My business is already impacted by global warming, killing the coral that makes the Great Barrier Reef one of the seven wonders of the natural world. Queensland’s tourism industry can’t afford to stand by silently and allow projects like Adani’s Carmichael mine put our livelihoods and future at risk.
Queensland grazier Bruce Currie, whose groundwater is a risk if Adani’s rail infrastructure enables other Galilee Basin coal mines to go ahead says, “Agriculture is key to the nation’s economy and my farming business is 100 percent dependent on groundwater. Palaszczuk and Turnbull are blind to the importance of our groundwater resources. It is a disgrace that Adani will get free access to unlimited water, with the associated risks to the Great Artesian Basin”.
Imogen Zethoven AO, Great Barrier Reef campaigner for AMCS says, “Last year we witnessed the worst coral bleaching on record in the Great Barrier Reef, and another mass bleaching event is currently underway. The health of the Reef is a national emergency. The Federal and State governments must reject Adani’s mine, or be accountable for locking in the death of the Reef over coming decades”.
Full biographies of Australian Delegation here.
Headshots of delegates and relevant stills for download here.
Further background
A delegation of Australian citizens will be visiting India to deliver a message to Guatam Adani that the Australian community does not want the controversial Carmichael coal mine.
The aim of the delegation is to demonstrate to Adani and the Indian community that the Australian people are strongly opposed to the Carmichael coal project. Australians would welcome Adani’s investment in solar in Australia but remain vehemently opposed to the Adani coal project which will damage groundwater, the climate and the much loved Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
The Adani Carmichael project
Adani is attempting to develop the Carmichael coal project in the untapped Galilee Basin in Central Queensland, Australia. The project involves a 60 million tonne per annum coal mine, 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 Aboriginal landowners and environmentalists over the groundwater impacts of the project, and the climate change impacts of burning coal from the mine. In addition the impacts of the project on the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area have made it a highly controversial project, with over two million people actively expressing opposition to it and thirteen global banks ruling out providing funding.
