Adani Mining has delivered a call to action urging Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to “take charge and show leadership” regarding the company’s outstanding approvals for the Carmichael coal mine project in the Galilee Basin.
Adani requires the Queensland Government to finalise two environmental plans to allow the long-gestating project to move forward.
One of the plans relates to the protection of a rare bird in the region (The Black-Throated Finch Management Plan), while the other refers to the Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem Management Plans (GDEMP).
The GDEMP received federal approval from Minister for the Environment Melissa Price in April.
Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science dealt the miner a blow yesterday after requesting an eighth round of revisions to the plans related to the finch.
The Black-Throated Finch Management Plan has been under review at the department for the past 18 months.
Adani Mining chief executive officer Lucas Dow criticised the new round of requests as excessive, citing the department’s “overreach” and the Queensland Government’s shifting of the project’s goal posts.
“Although we believe the current version of the Black-Throated Finch Management Plan already meets our project conditions, we are not going to be pig-headed about it and we will review the feedback from the Queensland department and respond accordingly,” Dow said.
“However, department officials have refused to commit to a timeframe to finalise the plan, even if we were to accept the state’s new round of requests in full.
“At what point does the Environment Minister get held to account for the performance of her own department and its behaviour?”
The Indian company said it would continue to work towards approval of the controversial mine.