Media Release
16 July 2019
Adani demands CSIRO scientists’ names: Mackay Conservation Group raises concerns
The Mackay Conservation Group says Adani should be investigated following revelations that the company requested the identities of CSIRO scientists involved in assessing the mining giant’s groundwater management plan (ABC today, Adani demands names of CSIRO scientists reviewing groundwater plans).
Mackay Conservation Group spokesperson, Michael Kane, says “Adani’s actions are clearly designed to intimidate people who work for some of Australia’s most trusted institutions and organisations, including the CSIRO and Geocsience Australia.
“All Australians should be concerned about international corporations applying undue pressure on our independent regulators, regardless of whether they support Adani’s Carmichael project or not.
“If there was a federal anti-corruption body this would be exactly the kind of conduct it would be responsible for examining.
“This is yet another example of a deliberate strategy by Adani to play the person not the ball. Adani has already been caught out bullying scientists during the approval process of the Black-Throated Finch management plan by searching for information about their private lives that they then used to try discredit individual scientists and their work.
“This kind of intimidation goes to the heart of our democracy. It is an attack on the processes that Australians rely on to deliver independent advice and investigations into major projects in our country.
“The CSIRO scientists were responsible for assessing whether the Adani mine risks destroying our groundwater and the Great Artesian Basin. It is essential that decisions that may permanently impact the Great Artesian Basin are made without undue political or corporate interference.
“How can we trust that the decision to approve the Adani mine was based on the best available advice and science and not a corrupted political process?
“It is becoming increasingly clear that Adani cannot be trusted to respect our processes or our iconic environmental assets like the Great Artesian Basin and the Great Barrier Reef”.
- END -For Interviews contact Michael Kane 0438 766 230