Dredging is back. GET UP

Bad news NEVILLE,

Dredging is back.

Despite everything that’s happened, the Government has submitted brand new plans to dredge millions of tonnes of Great Barrier Reef seabed to build a giant coal port at Abbot Point.

They might be new plans, but they’ve got the same old problem: dredging in the World Heritage Area to build a new coal port is insane. Together, we’ve fought off two versions of this ludicrous proposal. But now, the threat is back, and it’s as real as ever.

We have until next Friday to make submissions to the approvals process. Let’s get moving.

The Abbott Government has made it clear they’ll pursue this disastrous project no matter what the cost. And as a reminder — the costs are truly staggering:

• Adani wants to dredge millions of tonnes of seabed in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
• It will make way for thousands of coal ships to lug coal through the Reef each year.
• The company in charge, Adani, has a documented history of environmental destruction, theft and bribery.^1,2,3
• They need the port to build the Carmichael mine, which will be one of the largest coal mines in the world.
• The mine will destroy the land of the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners, spew 130 million tonnes of carbon pollution into the atmosphere every year, and use twelve billion litres of groundwater.⁴

There’s so much at stake, which is why hundreds of thousands of Australians have already taken action. It’s why over a dozen of the world’s biggest banks have rushed to distance themselves from the project. And it’s why major companies have refused to buy coal from Adani’s mine. No-one wants to be remembered as the investor that helped destroy one of our greatest natural wonders.

No-one, it seems, except our Government, who want to use public funds to prop up Adani’s dirty and unviable coal project.⁵ We need to use every weapon in our democratic arsenal to stop this big dirty coal port harming our Reef.

Can you write a submission explaining why you oppose dredging at Abbot Point?

It might sound daunting, but you don’t need to be an expert to make a submission. You just need to say why you’re concerned about protecting the Great Barrier Reef. We’ve outlined some of the worst environmental impacts to help get you started.

Last time the Abbott Government tried to fast-track plans to dredge at Abbot Point, Environment Minister Greg Hunt attempted to suppress our voices by limiting the time the public could have their say.

But we weren’t silenced. More than 80,000 people from across the environment movement and beyond made submissions — more than for any other project in Australian history.

That response was game-changing — it put Abbot Point back in the spotlight and made it so toxic that the Queensland Government were forced to rule Adani’s old dredging plans invalid, and sent the mining giant back to the drawing board.

But, like a particularly unwelcome coldsore, the proposal to dredge at Abbot Point just keeps coming back. This time with the potential backing of hundreds of millions of dollars of Government money.

Can you write a submission opposing the expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal on the Great Barrier Reef? www.getup.org.au/dredging

They need to know that we won’t stand for damaging the Great Barrier Reef to line the pockets of a mining billionaire. This is the third time Adani has tried to dredge our Reef. Let’s make it the last.

Thank you for standing up for the Reef,
Sam R and Adam, for the GetUp team

References
[1] Adani’s fitness to run Queensland mine examined over environmental concerns, The Guardian, 25 February 2015
[2] Uncertainty over massive Queensland mine after election shock and concerns over Indian company, The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 February 2015
[3] Concerns at Barrier Reef contractor’s humanitarian, environment record, The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 September 2014
[4] Carmichael coal mine’s impacts will be felt for generations, ABC Online, 31 July 2015
[5] Subsidising Adani coal rail link unwise, ex-EU climate chief Hedegaard says, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 August 2015