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The Federal Government is trying to turn the $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility into a slush fund for new coal projects.

It is proposing to lend $1 billion to Adani for their massive Carmichael coal mine, which would open up the Galilee Basin, essentially meaning it’s “game over” for a stable long term climate.

Take action – tell the NAIF that you are opposed to having your money spent on new dirty coal projects that are environmentally, socially and financially irresponsible!

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To the board of the NAIF, I am extremely concerned at the proposition that the NAIF would lend $1 billion to a rail project that unlocks the Galilee Basin to coal mining. Environmentally, economically and in terms of fiscal responsibility, this is an outrageous suggestion. The array of environmental impacts from coal mining in the Galilee Basin includes the depletion of groundwater, increased air pollution along the transport and shipping corridor, as well as in the region where the coal is burned, a heightened risk of shipping accidents in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, increased industrialisation of the World Heritage Area’s coastal boundary due to expanded export facilities and the impacts faced by the Reef from enhanced global warming due to billions of more tonnes of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere. To underscore that last point, the world is standing on the brink of triggering runaway climate change, and the Paris climate change agreement struck in 2015 aims to hold global warming to well below 2˚C above preindustrial levels. Building Australia’s largest thermal coal mine is about the clearest example of what we need to avoid if we want a stable long-term climate. This subsidy would also make no sense economically. The market Adani claims its coal is for – India – is attempting to eliminate coal imports within the next few years, with trends showing imports on the decline. Adani Power is itself suffering financially because of the cost of using imported coal for its power stations, pushing up the cost of electricity. Asia’s other major coal user, China, is cancelling dozens of coal power plants – many of which were under construction. With the global thermal coal market regarded by many analysts as in structural decline, giving $1 billion in credit to a project that would supply tens of millions of tonnes per year of coal to this market would make the NAIF not just environmentally reckless, but also a laughing stock. Finally, there is the matter of your custodianship of public money. I understand that the NAIF has received dozens of applications, yet this proposal would exhaust more than the entire first year’s budget – and one fifth of the overall NAIF funding – on one unviable project. Surely there are projects that offer the prospect of sustainable development for Northern Australia among the applications you have. To think that our public funds would be blown on one project that is environmentally, socially, and economically unsound is appalling. With this email, I am writing to register my strong opposition to this proposal. No public money should be used to enable the opening up of the Galilee Basin to more coal mining and I will do all I can to oppose this outrageous mismanagement of public funds. I also want some answers. Chiefly, I want to know what assessments you have made of the North Galilee Rail project that indicate it is worth investing one-fifth of the NAIF’s funding in. What are the details of the proposal? Which corporate entity would receive the loan? What are the terms? I’d also like to know what other projects have applied for funding – please send through a list or make the applications publicly available on your website. Please provide this information as soon as possible. As a taxpayer, I believe I am entitled to know how our public funds are proposed to be used. Sincerely,
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