The rehabilitation bond held by the Queensland Government is a fraction of what would be required to clean up Adani’s mess, according to Lock the Gate Alliance.
It was revealed today Adani paid the Queensland Palaszczuk Government a mere $25 million rehabilitation bond - a miniscule amount when compared to Lock the Gate’s 2017 expert estimate that rehabilitating the mine would cost about $1.5 billion.
The detailed analysis was undertaken using publicly available documents regarding the planned rehabilitation and closure strategy proposed by Adani Mining and applying the Queensland Government’s standard financial assurance calculator plus a contingency.
“There is a massive risk that Australian taxpayers will be left to cover the remaining costs of the rehabilitation of the Adani coal mine,” Lock the Gate Alliance spokesperson Carmel Flint said.
“This financial assurance amount is vastly inadequate given the proposed scale of the project.
“We estimated that the financial assurance required for the first five years of the full 60Mtpa mine plan should be at least $1.5 billion in order to protect taxpayers from financial risks.
“It’s clear the $25 million revealed today is totally inadequate to cover the risks to Queensland taxpayers.
“Even worse, Adani plan to leave behind six vast unfilled mine pits after mining, which will drain Central Queensland groundwater aquifers.
“Queenslanders should not be left to live with with the huge mess Adani plan to leave behind, and certainly shouldn’t pay for it.”
Although there has been reports that Adani is contemplating ‘downsizing’ the project, it is the 60Mtpa mine that has been approved and as far as Lock the Gate can ascertain there has been no revised proposal submitted.