A go-ahead for Adani’s Carmichael mine would be a crushing blow to climate activists in Ballarat, environmental advocate Tony Goodfellow said.
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The proposed mine is backed by the Turnbull Government and Labor leader Bill Shorten.
Ballarat MP Catherine King has previously said the mine should be allowed to proceed if it is found to be commercially viable and meets environmental standards.
If built the $22 billion mine in the Galilee Basin would be the largest in Australia. Mr Goodfellow, spokesperson for Ballarat Climate Action, said Ballarat could influence whether the mine went ahead.
A free screening of the 2017 documentary Guarding the Galilee will be held in Ballarat on Wednesday.
“If this goes ahead then any climate action that we do locally is completely pointless because if it goes ahead Australia will blow its carbon budget,” Mr Goodfellow said.
“Just because it’s happening in Queensland doesn’t mean we’re not part of it too. The nature of climate change is that it’s a global phenomenon, and we can influence Adani here in Ballarat.”
The screening comes a day after the Adani company announced it had reached a deal with the Queensland government, putting the project “back on track” after uncertainty over whether the Indian-owned company would be granted a royalties holiday.
Mr Goodfellow likened a nationwide campaign against the mine to Tasmania’s Franklin Dam protests in the eighties which saw the project killed off by the incoming Hawke Government.
“All across Australia there are a lot of communities rising up because they recognise that this is a massive issue. All national environmental organisations are focusing on Adani like a laser.”
Guarding the Galilee will screen at The Lost Ones Gallery’s Basement Bar on Camp Street at 6.30pm this Wednesday.