It certainly has been a chaotic and frustrating last month for so many of us around the country. Sadly, though so many of us have stopped to avert one disaster, Adani is still working away on their mine – which is a threat to the safety and wellbeing of billions worldwide. Our attempts to stop them need to continue as well.
Early in July was NAIDOC week, when we as a country celebrate our Aboriginal and Islander cultures. The theme this year was “heal country”, and it highlighted the hard work of so many Traditional Owners to protect this land from extractive companies who would happily destroy it for their own profits. That includes the Wangan and Jagalingou, whose long struggle to stop the Carmichael mine continued this month with a new letter to Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon and a call to action for others to pressure her as well. We will do our best to continue to support Wangan and Jagalingou and all other Traditional Owners who are trying to protect this country.
This month we did our bit to stop work on the Carmichael rail corridor, with repeated short blockades of vehicles and workers. It’s been difficult with the numbers at camp to do lots of actions, but these have been quite effective at slowing down work and reminding the world of the continuing opposition to this mine. Check out a video of some of that action here.
The lobbying of the finance industry continues from all corners of the Stop Adani movement – from blockades, to phone calls in lockdown, to our friends in the UK dowsing Lloyds’ office in green paint to call out the insurance giant’s greenwashing. These actions are having an impact too, as Adani have had all kinds of trouble on the stock market and are still struggling to get a loan and insurance for the project. At the end of the month, hardworking citizen scientists busted Adani breaching their environmental conditions yet again – once more failing to take necessary flood-proofing measures on the rail corridor. Water is a precious commodity in that dry country, and Adani’s neglect is not just careless, it’s destructive. This shows again the importance of having dedicated activists on the front line – keeping Adani accountable as they fail to take even the basic environmental measures expected of them.
That’s why it remains our urgent responsibility to stop this disastrous mine and others like it. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report tabled today is not a happy read – sad because of the damage we are doing; and sad because despite the repeated warnings of climate scientists, ecologists, affected people and Traditional Owners; it is still so hard to get our society to take responsibility and change.
Our time is running out to stop Adani, as is our time to stop climate catastrophe. Let’s keep up this struggle, certainly one of the most important things happening in any of our busy lives. If you are able to make it to the frontlines, please come up and join us at Camp Binbee. If not, there lots of local climate action groups to join, and you can help by supporting FLAC financially or by sharing our work on social media. Let’s take action while we can, and not allow the opportunity for climate rescue to pass us by. See you on the frontlines!
Andy and the crew at Camp Binbee
Frontline Action on Coal
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Frontline Action on Coal acknowledges elders, past present and future. We respect the communication protocols and the important role of Elders in culture and heritage protection advice. We recognise and respect cultural heritage, beliefs, customs and the continuing relationship and responsibility to traditional land and water and day and night sky. We acknowledge that they are of continuing importance to the people living today and future generations, and stand in solidarity with First Nations people in their continuing struggle for justice.