Coalmine challenge visits FNQ

HISTORIC court proceedings set to challenge a proposed coalmine on Indigenous cultural and human rights grounds will hear evidence in the Torres Strait this week.

The landmark case to be heard in the Queensland Land Court is brought by Youth Verdict represented by the Environmental Defenders Office.

The group opposes Clive Palmer’s Waratah Coal mine in the Galilee Basin on the grounds the project “will impair the human rights of First Nations peoples”.

Cairns-based Youth Verdict member Serena Thompson claimed the impacts of climate change had affected an ability to “connect and physically be on country”.

“Climate change fuelled by coal and gas mining is the violent legacy of colonisation,” Ms Thompson said.

A hearing in Cairns on Monday was expected to receive testimony from Traditional Owner and witness Jiritju Fourmile, but has been postponed due to illness.

The court will travel to Darnley Island on Tuesday through Thursday, before heading to Coconut Island on Friday.