Adani's $16 billion Queensland mega mine gets the go-ahead despite objections

Adani has officially announced they will proceed on the first stage of the controversial Carmichael coal mine.

Coal is stockpiled

Despite objections from Indigenous groups, the Adani mine is set to proceed to stage one. Source: AAP

Adani has given the green light to start work on the $16 billion Carmichael coal mine in Queensland's Galilee Basin.

Chairman Gautam Adani announced he had signed off on the project in a statement on Tuesday.

"I am proud to announce the project has Final Investment Decision (FID) approval which marks the official start of one of the largest single Infrastructure - and job-creating - developments in Australia's recent history," Mr Adani said.

The Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners have been fighting Indian mining giant, Adani, over a multi-billion dollar coalmine proposed to be built at the Galilee Basin, right in the heart of Wangan and Jagalingou country in central-west Queensland.

Senior spokesman for the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners, Adrian Burragubba, said earlier this year that the Government was selling out Traditional owners to meet the demands of mining interests.

"The Prime Minister is another in a long line of political leaders, Federal and State, who are willing to sacrifice Aboriginal peoples’ rights if a profit or a deal is attractive enough. It is extraordinary to have the Prime Minister travelling to India to tell a businessman that he will change the Native Title Act in Australia and undermine our rights so that his destructive project can proceed," he said.

“Mr Turnbull is selling out the country and the Australian people will be horrified that the Prime Minister is in India trading away our rights in an act of national betrayal."

“We call on Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to clarify if Labor has done a deal with the Government to support this sell out to Adani”, he said.

Pre-construction work on the project is expected to begin in the September quarter.

The company says the project will create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs, though opponents have challenged that claim.

Mr Adani hit out at environmental activists who have challenged the project for years.

"We have been challenged by activists in the courts, in inner city streets, and even outside banks that have not even been approached to finance the project," he said.

"We are still facing activists. But we are committed to this project."

With AAP


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Published 6 June 2017 12:05pm


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