Adani may have captured Australian governments but it has yet to achieve a social license from the national population

Frontline Action on Coal

Media release: Tuesday, November 2 2021

Juliet Lamont IMAGE: supplied

Second QLD coal port shut down in a week by same two climate activists.

Kyle Magee IMAGE: supplied

Environmental activists have stopped work this morning at North Queensland Export Terminal (formerly Abbot Point Coal Terminal) in Bowen, Qld.

The port, owned by Adani, has been shut down by the same two climate activists who stopped work at Hay Point Coal Terminal in Mackay, QLD one week ago.

Juliet Lamont and Kyle Magee used steel tubing to lock themselves on to coal loading infrastructure at the port, to coincide with climate discussions at COP26 in Glasgow, UK. The pair are asking the international community to “Sanction Australia” over the government’s inability to respond to the climate crisis appropriately.

Ms Lamont, mother of two, said “I’m locking on at Adani’s coal port to ask the leaders of the world at COP26 to lock Australia out of negotiations and forge ahead with the urgent, bold and visionary work needed to save us. Now.”

Lamont and Magee, who were arrested just one week ago for shutting down operations in Mackay at Hay Point Coal Terminal, are aware that the actions they are taking will see them arrested again. Both have stated they are “willing to face the consequences” as “the climate crisis presents an alarming fate for the future of all Australians”. Both Lamont and Magee are currently on bail from their previous action.

Magee, a father of two, said ”If the Morrison government is serious about tackling climate change, they should cancel all new coal mines now, including the Adani Carmichael mine, and invest billions in sustainable alternatives. Anything less than that shows a dangerous lack of understanding of very clear science.”

As COP26 begins this week, Australia still has no plans to commit to any new 2030 emission reduction targets, even though investors and climate science experts warn that our current strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change are vastly inadequate. Australia is the largest coal exporter in the world, and without 2030 targets a 2050 target of net-zero is likely to be impossible to reach.

Ms Lamont said "I'd like the international community to put pressure on our untrustworthy Morrison government who have completely set their citizens adrift in a climate emergency."