Adani threatens to take his bat and ball and go home - half the Australian east coast rushes to open the door

Essential Research poll, commissioned by environmental activists 350.org, The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 December 2015:

The Australian, 4 June 2016:

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani may abandon his proposed $16 billion coalmine in central Queensland if environmentalists continue to delay the project in the courts.

In his first interview with the Australian media, Mr Adani said he was disappointed the “pit to plug’’ project had yet to receive the green light after six years of environmental assessments and court battles.

Mr Adani, who late last year appealed to Malcolm Turnbull to act over the legal activism, said he hoped the court challenges to Australia’s largest proposed coalmine would be finalised early next year.

With one court case yet to be heard in the Federal Court, and at least two groups threatening High Court action, Mr Adani warned he could not wait indefinitely. The self-made billionaire, who plans to export up to 60,000 tonnes a year of Australian coal through the Great Barrier Reef, said he was already scouting alternatives to feed his power stations in India.

“You can’t continue just holding,’’ he said at the headquarters of his $US26 billion ($36bn) energy and infrastructure conglomerate in Ahmedabad, northwest India. “I have been really disappointed that things have got too delayed.’’

Mr Adani confirmed he had met the Prime Minister last December to implore him to deliver greater certainty on projects like his proposed Carmichael mine. It is forecast to deliver thousands of jobs to the economically depressed central Queensland region. “We were suggesting how to bring in the certainty of the timings,’’ he said. “We were asking how we get certainty of the time schedules … that is the most important for us in committing all of our resources.’’

The Carmichael mine, rail and port project promises to open up the untapped Galilee coal province to other mega-mines, including one being planned by Gina Rinehart in a joint venture with another Indian giant, GVK.

Mr Adani’s comments come after the focus of the federal election this week turned to measures to tackle coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef and climate change…..