Greensmps.org.au announced the Statement on the Environmental Protection Order issued to Clive Palmer’s Waratah Coal yesterday for not complying with its environmental duty at the China First coal mine project in the Galilee Basin.
“It’s incredibly alarming to see a mining magnate with considerable weight in federal Parliament breaking state environmental law ,” Senator Waters, Australian Greens environment spokesperson , said.
“ Clive Palmer is threatening precious water supplies in the Galilee Basin with thousands of coal drill holes on private properties.
“If Mr Palmer’s China First mega coal mine is approved federally, he will also threaten our climate and Great Barrier Reef.
“Mr Palmer is planning to export millions of tonnes of coal through an expanded port in the Great Barrier Reef, using it as a dump ground for dredge spoil and a shipping super highway, and exacerbating climate change.
“It’s vital that the Abbott Government acts transparently in its consideration of the China First mine, given Mr Palmer’s position in the Lower House and influence in the Senate.
“The Abbott Government needs to accept climate science and that we’re at the end of the fossil fuel era and have viable renewable alternatives.
“Tony Abbott putting Clive Palmer ahead of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland’s water supplies and the climate, would be short sighted and self-interested ,” Senator Waters said.
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Press Release, November 6, 2013