A bird dogs the Adani mine again
THE black throated finch is back to cause problems for Adani and this time it’s brought the lawyers.
The bird has caused controversy before and among the 140 conditions placed on the mine by the Federal Government, four relate to the black throated finch.
About $4 million and 40,000ha of land have also been set aside for its protection by Adani and other proponents in the Galilee Basin.
However, the Australian Conservation Foundation has written to Federal Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg calling on him to revoke Adani’s approval following revelations that proposed environmental offsets for Adani’s coal mine are fundamentally flawed.
It has legal advice from the Environmental Defenders Office Queensland that it says shows new information revealing the bird could be driven to extinction by the mine development.
ACF says the new evidence is grounds for cancelling the entire approval.
The analysis, completed by scientific experts in the black throated finch recovery team and backed by Birdlife Australia, highlights how Adani has gamed the system.
But cancellation of the project would appear unlikely with a spokesman for the Minister saying the Commonwealth’s environmental approval for the Carmichael coal mine went through an extremely rigorous process and included conditions that would provide long-term benefits for the environment through the development of an offset package, including a Biodiversity Offset Strategy.
“The conditions placed on the project followed a comprehensive environmental impact assessment process under the EPBC Act and State legislation, including opportunities for public comments,’’ he said.
Adani said it had lodged a draft plan that was open for changes but it had been put together with assistance and input from experts known as the Recovery Team.
The ACF also has existing legal action against the project based on the Federal Government’s approval.
“The Turnbull government has signed off on a project that will help send a species extinct. It must reverse the decision,” said ACF campaigner Basha Stasak.
“ACF will be looking at what this new information means for the approval of the mine and will be evaluating all potential legal options.”