Hundreds of thousands of people protested across Australia on Saturday against Indian corporate giant, Adani Group amidst controversy surrounding his coal mine project.
Protesters wrote ‘Stop Adani’ by forming human chain throughout Australia to oppose Adani Enterprises’ proposed Carmichael coal mine, which would be the country’s largest coal mine. The project has been surrounded with controversy and suffered inordinate delays for years over environmental and financing issues.
Environment groups are incensed claiming that the mine in Australia’s Queensland state would contribute to global warming and damage the Great Barrier Reef.
On the sands of Sydney’s Bondi Beach more than 1,000 people formed a human sign saying ‘#STOP ADANI’, Reuters quoted organiser Blair Palese from activist group 350.
“I think there’s a very real national concern that goes beyond Queensland about the idea of giving this mine a billion-dollar taxpayer-funded loan,” Palese said.
According to a new survey, more than half of Australians have opposed the mine.
Members of the Stop Adani Alliance – which comprises more than 30 environment groups – began to gather at 40 protests around the country on Saturday, reported London’s The Guardian.
They plan to spell out “Stop Adani” in “human signs” at beaches and other prominent locations around the country.
“While the Queensland and federal governments remain staunch supporters of this dirty mine, new polling shows the Australian community is angry that $1bn of public money could be handed to Adani for a mine which will wreck the climate and the Reef,” Palese, was quoted as saying.
Analysts have raised doubts about whether Adani Enterprises can fund the mine, at an initial cost of $4 billion, given a global backlash to investment in fossil fuels.
Adani Enterprises says the project would pay billions of dollars in royalties and taxes, create jobs and export coal to India help bring electricity to rural regions.
Adani has been counting on an Australian $900 million (US $704 million) loan from the Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) for a rail link to the proposed mine.