Lock the Gate says reports this morning revealing Adani did not accept expert advice about the failings of its water plans and that pressure was applied to experts by the government to get their sign off quickly on a flawed plans should lead to an immediate halt of the Carmichael coal mine.
The report refers to minutes of a meeting between Geoscience Australia and the Department of Environment and Energy on the 5th April.
“This confirms our worst fears about political interference in the rushed approval of Adani’s groundwater plans just before the election was called," Lock the Gate spokesperson Carmel Flint said.
“It is clear that the government was telling the experts in Geoscience Australia and CSIRO that they wanted them to sign off on the plans despite the experts holding major reservations about it.
“The documents released today make it clear that the experts believed the Adani water modelling was so flawed that it could lead to breaches in environmental conditions.
“However, Adani arrogantly did not accept the flaws in its model or agree to the corrective actions that were recommended.
“It is appalling to see our best scientists being subject to this type of blatant political interference to back a mining giant at the expense of our precious water resources.
“We’re calling for this tarnished groundwater approval to be withdrawn immediately, and we want to see the Federal Labor party commit to a full inquiry into all environmental approvals granted to Adani if it is elected to government."