Adani has challenged a requirement to not discriminate against employing Clermont residents in the Supreme Court, in a move groups say shows the company has little interest in supporting local communities.
Late last year, the Coordinator General decided to expand what’s known as the nearby regional community (NRC) radius to include Clermont, meaning Adani would not have been allowed to exclude locals from employment.
In response, Adani challenged the decision in the Supreme Court. Court documents are available here.
Media reports this morning that the QLD Coordinator General withdrew the NRC expansion earlier this month due to an “administration error”.
Adani’s Social Impact Assessment proposed the potential for drive-in-drive-out or bus-in-bus-out workers from regional centres including Clermont, once road infrastructure had improved. It said, "the Clermont community in particular has indicated what the desired community outcomes are for their locality, including a local presence from the mining companies within the town and provision for workers to reside locally".
Isaac Regional Council has been engaged in a long running dispute with Adani over the company’s failure to upgrade the Moray - Elgin Carmichael road, a condition of an infrastructure access agreement between Adani and the council.
The upgrade to the road was also a condition of Adani's QLD government approvals. This dispute has now escalated, with the council taking legal action in the Supreme Court.
It also comes after Traditional Owners launched legal action last month attempting to protect the Doongmabulla Springs from damage from the Carmichael mine.
Mackay Conservation Group spokesperson Imogen Lindenberg said, “It’s disappointing but hardly surprising to see Adani going back on its word and failing to properly support the Clermont community.
“Employing a 100% FIFO workforce makes it easier for big coal companies to shirk their responsibilities to the local community, just as Adani is now fighting against a requirement for it to upgrade local roads.
“For Adani to take the QLD Government to the Supreme Court over a requirement to not discriminate against employing Clermont locals, is low even for this notoriously unethical company.”
Lock the Gate Alliance National Coordinator Ellen Roberts said, “Adani’s decision to take the QLD Government to court in an apparent attempt to avoid employing Clermont locals is yet another sign this company cannot be trusted.
“These laws are meant to support local regional communities, and Adani’s legal challenge suggests to us that it has no interest in doing this.
“Traditional Owners are right now fighting Adani in court, over allegations it has potentially contaminated the sacred Doongmabulla Springs. This latest development is yet another strike against Adani locally in Central QLD.”
ENDS