Multinational mining giant Adani may have breached Australian consumer and corporation laws in its recent advertising blitz, according to complaint letters submitted to the ACCC and ASIC by Lock the Gate Alliance.
The letters spell out the inaccuracies contained in the ads, which claim that Adani is ‘ready to go’ and the ‘Qld Government is standing in the way’ in relation to environmental approvals for the company’s Carmichael mega mine.
“The fact is that Adani is not ‘ready to go’, for a number of reasons, one of which is that they still need approval from the Federal Government for a water management plan before they can start construction” said Lock the Gate spokesperson Carmel Flint.
“Adani still need to negotiate an agreement with rail operator Aurizon in order to connect their rail line to the port at Abbot Point.
“Adani are also still waiting on Federal approval of their North Galilee Water Scheme.
“The delays on the Adani project have been caused almost entirely by Adani themselves - over the last 8 years they have repeatedly dropped the ball on the project and failed to meet key deadlines.
“It was Adani last year who failed to meet their deadline to pay for their river water licence, and Adani who have failed to conduct the water research recommended by independent scientists in 2016 to ensure they did not cause Great Artesian Basin springs to dry up”.
Ms Flint said the ‘attack dog’ legal strategy which was proposed to Adani by their lawyers and exposed recently, provided insights into Adani’s motivations with its advertisements as well.
“Lawyers AJ & Co state in the leaked ‘attack dog’ strategy that some of the proposed reasons for the action include Adani trying to ‘achieve its commercial goal’ and ‘signal to the market’,” she said.
“One can fairly conclude that the same financial motivation is in play with Adani’s advertising strategy.
“Adani must be held to account for its misleading, deceptive tactics. ASIC must investigate whether Adani has violated the Corporations Act 2001, while the ACCC must determine whether Adani has breached Australian Consumer Law.”