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| Cate Faehrmann MLC |
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Dear Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk MP,
I heard you on ABC radio this morning talking about the catastrophic fire conditions that Queensland is facing. “Unprecedented” was the word you used.
You told listeners across the country that temperatures had broken records by 5 or 10 degrees and that the lack of normally humid conditions in that part of Queensland was making the situation worse.
You’ve previously acknowledged that climate change is real and climate change is happening.
Just two months ago your government released a report warning of the increased risk of extreme floods and fires as a result of climate change.
So I just want to check that you’re aware of the link between burning coal and climate change?
And that all of the coal your government is approving to be dug up and shipped off and burned contributes to these catastrophic fire conditions?
Like the massive China Stone coal mine in central Queensland’s Galilee Basin, smack bang next to the proposed Adani mine, which your government is currently waving through the approvals process.
If the China Stone mine goes ahead then it will mean another 38 million tonnes of coal burnt every year for the next 50 years. That’s 1.9 billion tonnes of coal which will see over 5.4 billion tonnes of CO2 released to the atmosphere or almost 10 times Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions!
If you can see the link between climate change and these fires, then why can’t you see the link between approving these mines and more extreme weather events for Queensland?
Is it the promise of royalties from the mine? (oops, they’ve all gone, spent on disaster recovery)
Or is it the donations from the fossil fuel industry that your party relies upon which is clouding your vision? (a lazy $1,358,018 in ‘donations’ from the mining industry to the federal and Qld ALP between 2011 and 2015)
Is it the shameful revolving door between Ministers, staffers, senior public servants and jobs in the mining industry? (at least 145 meetings with the mining and resources industry in your first year of government sounds like industry capture to me)
Or are you just too captured by the CFMEU, who have been pressuring Labor to stay strong in support of Adani and other new coal mines and view Adani as “just another project” which should be approved?
Of course we must consider the impacts on communities and support workers in a just transition process but this cannot be an excuse for inaction. I grew up in Queensland and I know it’s a tough decision to close down an industry which has been such an important part of the state’s economy, but coal’s time is up.
I applaud the response of our emergency services and I applaud your government’s response to the crisis at hand, but these horrific fires must not be seen in isolation. The terrible, frightening reality is that climate change is here and we can no longer pretend that tinkering around the edges is a sufficient response.
I know you accept the science linking coal to climate change and climate change to these fires, but when will you take responsibility and end coal mining in Queensland?
Cate Faehrmann
Greens MP
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