In a historic first for Australia, a proposed coal mine has been blocked under national environmental laws.
This coal mine happened to have been proposed by Clive Palmer, planned for an area just 10 kilometres from the edge of the world-heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.
It was Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek who had the final say, officially blocking the proposal following thousands of comments in favour of killing the project.
Palmer had planned to extract 10 million tonnes of coal a year with the development, which would have included two open-cut pits operating for twenty years.
The coal mine plan’s extinction comes after a difficult 12 months for Palmer, who spent more than $100 million on the 2022 Federal Election in a massive campaign that failed to deliver for his United Australia Party.
Palmer said Plibersek’s decision is “contrary to what human nature is”, as it goes against the desire to “create and develop wealth.”
“It’s going contrary to the natural interests of the people of Australia,” he told the Financial Review.
But given the 9,000 comments received by Plibersek’s department on the proposal – 98 per against it – many Australians seem to think otherwise.
While the coal mine proposal was rejected federally, Queensland Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon also agreed the project posed an “unacceptable risk” to the Reef and that “while all projects are assessed on their merits, it is clear that this one doesn’t stack up.”
Sharing a statement on Wednesday’s decision, Plibersek said:
“I have decided not to approve the Central Queensland Coal Project because the risks to the Great Barrier Reef, freshwater creeks and groundwater are too great.
“Freshwater creeks run into the Great Barrier Reef and onto seagrass meadows that feed dugongs and provide breeding grounds for fish.”