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Greg Hunt’s holiday horror story
Dear friends across Australia,
In days, Greg Hunt could fast-track dredging of the Great Barrier Reef — and if he does, bulldozers could be ready to roll in on New Year’s Day! By law he’s been forced to hold a public consultation, but it closes in 2 days — let’s overwhelm it with messages to stop the dredging and save the reef! Right now the Abbott government is under fire from every direction, and the last thing Coalition back-benchers want is another unpopular project costing them more political support. If we flood the consultation, and back-benchers’ inboxes, with messages opposing the plan to dredge the waters of our national icon, Hunt will be under huge pressure by colleagues to walk away from fast-track approval. The consultation closes tomorrow — click below to send an urgent message now so we can stop the dredging and save the incredible Great Barrier Reef: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/gbr_abbot_point_sam_2/?bhPqncb&v=50068 This rushed approval process makes no sense — the coal mines that the port is being built for aren’t even financed yet. In fact, economists say the project is a huge economic risk, not least due to the plummeting price of coal. A growing list of the world’s biggest banks have publicly ruled out investing and the State Bank of India — the only bank that has put up its hand to invest — is facing huge opposition in India and around the world. The government claims it is taking all necessary environmental precautions, but Greg Hunt’s attempt to fast-track approval suggests quite the opposite. When a similar approval was fast-tracked at Gladstone Harbour, environmental regulations were circumvented and fish were poisoned, devastating the local industry. We can’t let that happen again! Hunt was hoping to sneak the fast-track plan past the public during the silly season — scheduling the consultation for the minimum ten days right before Christmas. Now, the horrific hostage situation in Sydney will take rightly take political centre-stage. But unfortunately the mega-miners won’t let up their pressure through this sad time — so neither can we. Send a message now to stop the dredging before it’s too late: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/gbr_abbot_point_sam_2/?bhPqncb&v=50068 The fight to save the Reef has been long and hard, but our community has risen to the challenge. Every time mining companies, big banks, or even our own government have sought to find a road to destruction, we’ve been there to stop it. Let’s do it again. With hope and determination, Oliver, Alex, Emily, Nic, Danny, Alaphia and the whole Avaaz team MORE INFORMATION Abbot Point dredging haste could ruin Caley valley wetlands, says expert (The Guardian) Fish fears rise over LGN port dredging (The Australian) Abbot Point Port and Wetland Project: Invitation for public comment (Queensland Government) |
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