Staged and motivated activism against billion-dollar projects have increasingly become a believable reality across the world. But rising stakes are now pushing anti-development lobby groups to take up illegal means in stonewalling projects. Australia has been at the receiving end of dissent and staged campaigns more than once, as the resourceful nation is home to several key projects.
For instance, activists’ group, Market Forces, recently ran advertisements warning people from accepting employment from Bravus Mining the company operating the Adani Carmichael coal mine in Queensland. Clinching evidence of the planned sabotage surfaces on search results to people looking up the Bravus Mining and Resources’ rail business online. These include defamatory advertisement and instigating people’s cooperation through donations. This is despite the hundreds of jobs and wealth generation opportunities created by the project in the recent past.
The Adani Group had stayed committed to Carmichael Project despite the decade-long attacks by activists pushing governments, threatening stakeholders, and poisoning popular sentiments against the project.
This is not a stray incident.
The curious case of Santos is a classic example of things to come, wherein the activist groups opposed ahumongous $3.6 Narrabribillion gas project in Western New South Wales, saying that the project would devastate GamilaraayGomeroi cultural ties to sacred and significant heritage sites. However, the federal environment minister approved the development and cleared the way for Santos to go ahead with the billion-dollar plan. The gas project was critical for creating job opportunities, driving investment and delivering competitive prices, but the campaigners somehow overlooked the benefits and stressed on the negative implications of the project.
In a similar incident, Market Forces showed its reservations ahead of HSBC’s annual general meeting on May 28 this year, claiming the fossil fuel projects financed by the bank would trigger carbon emissions. However, what must be taken into consideration is that HSBC’s commitment to stop financing new coal-fired power plants in Australia since 2018does not apply to the expansion of existing coal projects. HSBC further cleared that it is prioritizing finance and investment that supports its customers to progressively decarbonize.
Many projects face a lot of criticism early in the piece but prove to be beneficial for the progress of local communities and overall economy in the long run. However, the repercussions caused such campaigns on the employment opportunities are enormous in the context. Moreover, a substantial part of Australia’s economy relies on fossil fuels and their exports. Since there are no ‘get rich overnight’ schemes, a sector that contributes a major chunk to the country’s economy should be ideally able to operate in a progressive environment.
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