Tanya Plibersek BLOCKS Clive Palmer’s proposed coal mine near the Great Barrier Reef
Labor’s Tanya Plibersek BLOCKS a huge coal mine because it was near the Great Barrier Reef – despite rising energy costs and Australia making billions from exports
- Tanya Plibersek has blocked Clive Palmer’s proposed mine
- The coal mine posed a significant environmental risk
- The location was less than 10 km from the Great Barrier Reef
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Environment Secretary Tanya Plibersek has blocked billionaire Clive Palmer’s proposed coal mine in the first-ever time federal environmental laws have been used to reject a coal project.
Ms Plibersek announced her decision on Wednesday to block the proposed coal mine in Central Queensland.
She explained that the mine posed a high risk of pollution and environmental damage to the Great Barrier Reef, which is less than 10 km from the site.
Mr Palmer’s company, Mineralogy Pty Ltd, had applied for the construction of the open pit coal mine.
Environment Secretary Tanya Plibersek (pictured) has blocked billionaire Clive Palmer’s proposed coal mine
“I wanted to let you know, after a thorough review of all information before me, that I have decided to stand by my decision and that I will not approve the Central Queensland coal project,” Ms Plibersek said in her announcement.
‘I came to the conclusion that the adverse environmental effects are simply too great.
“The mine is an open-pit coal mine less than 10 kilometers from the Great Barrier Reef and the risk of pollution and irreversible damage to the reef is very real.”
The environment minister explained that Mr Palmer’s mine would have “unacceptable impacts on fresh water in the area and potentially on fragile seagrass meadows that feed dugongs and provide breeding grounds for fish just offshore.”
Ms Plibersek revealed in her speech that 9,000 public submissions had been sent in just 10 working days, 98 percent of which were against the mine.
“I want to thank everyone who took the time to reach out to me and share your thoughts,” she added.
Ms Plibersek said the open mine posed a significant environmental risk to the Great Barrier Reef, which is less than 10 kilometers from the mine (photo: a coal mine in Lithgow, NSW)
Billionaire Clive Palmer’s company, Mineralogy Pty Ltd, has applied to build the coal mine in Central Queensland
The proposed project would include two open pit mines extracting up to 10 million tons of coal each year.
It was planned to work for 20 years and export coal abroad.
TThe Queensland state government also recommended the construction of the mine’s Commonwealth blocks.