Keep public money out of Adani coal
UPDATE: The two Adani Carmichael-related applications for funding from the federal government’s Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) have been successfully fought off!
In December 2017, Adani’s application for a $1 billion taxpayer-subsidised loan from the NAIF was vetoed by the Queensland state government. This means the loan, which Adani wanted to use to build the rail line it needs to export coal from its proposed Carmichael mega mine, can’t go ahead.
Queensland rail company Aurizon also wanted to use a NAIF loan to build its own rail line, connecting Adani’s Carmichael site to existing rail infrastructure and saving Adani billions of dollars in the cost of building their own line. But in February 2018 Aurizon withdrew its NAIF application, blaming a lack of finalised customer contracts with any of the companies proposing coal mines in the Galilee Basin. While Aurizon’s announcement reaffirmed its support for the notion of opening the Galilee to coal mining, it also indicates just how far Adani’s Carmichael plans are from coming to fruition.
