'Bigger than Franklin': Bob Brown to lead anti-Adani road convoy   

February 6, 2019
Sydney Morning Herald


Environmental activist Bob Brown says his planned road convoy to protest the proposed giant Adani coal mine in Queensland will be bigger than the protest to stop the damming of Tasmania's wild rivers in the 1980s.   

His foundation's "Stop Adani Convoy" plans to travel from Hobart to the coal port of Bowen on the Queensland coast over a fortnight starting from April 17, Mr Brown told the Herald.


Bob Brown predicts his 'Stop Adani Convoy' will be bigger than the campaign to save the Franklin River from being dammed in the 1980s.

The ferry and road trip has lured more than 800 participants, a number that Mr Brown expects to swell as the convoy snakes through Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane on its way north.

"We're very, very anxious" about recent announcements that work on the long-proposed Carmichael mine in the Galilee Basin is about to begin. "The option of doing nothing is not on."


Mr Brown said the convoy had the potential to dwarf the campaign by environment groups to stop the damming of the Franklin River in the 1980s. The Hawke Labor government's election in March 1983 resulted in Canberra intervening to stop support for the dam after Mr Brown helped lead a blockade on work from the preceding December.




"It's extraordinary - I haven't seen such a reaction," Mr Brown said, of opposition to the Adani mine.

Adani Mining said some 14,500 people had registered to work for the mine, most from Queensland.

“We ask activists from interstate to respect the thousands of people across regional Queensland who want the Carmichael Project to proceed because they need a job and understand the contribution that mining makes to both the state and national economy," a spokeswoman said.

“After more than eight years of rigorous scientific assessment, regulatory approvals and legal reviews, the community can be confident that the project stacks up environmentally."

The Indian-owned company is "conducting stage 1 work" as it prepares to develop a mine with an annual coal output of 10-15 million tonnes, the spokeswoman said.

This work involves road surfacing and grid, fencing and signage, she said.
'Litmus test'

Plans for the convoy come as independents running in blue-ribbon Liberal seats have spoken out against the mine.   

Oliver Yates, who is running against Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has made known his opposition to the planned coal mine, while Zali Steggall has told the Guardian that Labor was not "ambitious enough" and should make an explicit commitment to block Adani.

"Adani will be a litmus test," Mr Brown said. "Both big parties support this mine."


According to Mr Brown, some 6000 people eventually joined the blockade against a dam on the Franklin River, with 500 of them arrested.

The organisers, including the Frontline Action on Coal, plan a series of public events along the convoy's path.

I don't mind Brown Bob because he's truly a protector of the environment rather than today's Greens which are more interested in gay unicorns.