Extract from The Guardian
Indian miner playing politics instead of participating in scientific process, says deputy premier Jackie Trad
The Adani mining group has chosen to “run a political campaign”
rather than engage with the Queensland government about its plans to
protect the endangered black-throated finch, the state’s deputy premier
has said.
On Friday, Adani launched a pre-emptive attack on the findings of an independent review of its conservation plans to protect the finch at the Carmichael mine site.
The company said a first draft of the report “reads like an anti-coal, anti-mining, anti-Adani lobbying brochure”, and contained unspecified errors. In a statement, it repeated its calls for the Queensland government to simply finalise its management plan, about which conservationists and ecologists have serious concerns.
Speaking in Townsville on Friday afternoon, the Queensland deputy premier and treasurer, Jackie Trad, said Adani should raise any concerns it had about the draft report with the Department of Environment and Science.
“Adani has the opportunity to participate in this process. That is the process open to them. If they don’t like that process, the alternative is to do what they’re doing and that is to run a political campaign.”
Trad’s comments were a rare rebuke from a government that has
refrained from responding directly to criticism and concerted pressure
by Adani.On Friday, Adani launched a pre-emptive attack on the findings of an independent review of its conservation plans to protect the finch at the Carmichael mine site.
The company said a first draft of the report “reads like an anti-coal, anti-mining, anti-Adani lobbying brochure”, and contained unspecified errors. In a statement, it repeated its calls for the Queensland government to simply finalise its management plan, about which conservationists and ecologists have serious concerns.
Speaking in Townsville on Friday afternoon, the Queensland deputy premier and treasurer, Jackie Trad, said Adani should raise any concerns it had about the draft report with the Department of Environment and Science.
“Adani has the opportunity to participate in this process. That is the process open to them. If they don’t like that process, the alternative is to do what they’re doing and that is to run a political campaign.”
When the department convened the review panel, headed by the Melbourne-based threatened species expert Brendan Wintle, Adani argued that its management plan for the black-throated finch had been placed into the hands of anti-coal activists.
That same rhetoric was dialled up after the mining group was given the draft report and asked to provide feedback. The company, clearly unhappy with the findings of those scientists, then leaked the details and made public criticisms.
“If the Queensland government accepts any part of this report, it means their own (department’s) work over the past 18 months is at best, incompetent, and at worst, using purposeful delay tactics to slow down the delivery of the Carmichael project and the thousands of jobs it will provide in the process,” it said in a statement.
“We have written to the (department) today to once again express our serious concerns regarding this review process and the draft report attached to it.”
Jo-Anne Bragg, the chief executive and a solicitor at the Environmental Defender’s Office Queensland, said acceptance of the finch management plan was a key condition of Adani’s approval for the Carmichael mine.
“We’ve heard both politicians and Adani constantly emphasise that the project has gone through a detailed assessment and is subject to numerous tough conditions. That’s the basis on which it was approved,” Bragg said.
“Fundamentally many projects in Queensland are approved on the basis of the mining company or the developer promising that there won’t be many impacts ... and then when it comes down to it they want to wriggle out of complying with conditions. That’s not a robust system.
“I think it’s important for the community to appreciate Adani is a very well resourced company and they’re spending vast amounts of money on public relations trying to get their way. It’s disrespectful of the court process that led to the imposition of the conditions and not respectful of science.”
The Australian Conservation Foundation said the government must “stay the course” and not cave in to corporate bullying.
“The black-throated finch is now found in only 12% of its historical range and Adani’s mine would devastate its best remaining habitat,” campaigner Christian Slattery said.
“Adani’s tantrum at the Queensland government is a clear demonstration of the company’s contempt for science and our native wildlife. If Adani’s management plans for the black-throated finch aren’t scientifically robust, they should not get approved. It’s that simple.”
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