Mining executive Clive Palmer said Australia’s coal industry is facing a dual attack from both the federal government’s mining tax and an overseas-funded campaign that is bankrolling professional troublemakers such as Queensland Greens leader Drew Hutton. Palmer said the passing of the mining tax by was a bitter blow for Australian resource companies who were sold out by Prime Minister Julia Gillard after her sweetheart deal with the big three mining groups BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata.
“The Government only engaged the big three mining companies and the Greens and was never willing to consult the entire mining community in its decision making,” Palmer said. “The mining tax is only going to make Australian companies less competitive against foreign-owned opposition and ultimately it will threaten many Australian jobs.”
Mr Palmer said coal mining and exploration companies such as his own Waratah Coal were also under threat from a United States funded anti-coal campaign. He said a leaked document “Stopping the Australian Coal Export Boom” had confirmed fears that local ideologues such as Drew Hutton and Greens leader Bob Brown were collaborating with foreign multinationals to destroy the coal industry.
“This document proves the Australian coal industry is under serious threat from a professionally-orchestrated and overseas-funded campaign to destroy it through methods including the manipulation of our court system to delay vital infrastructure projects,” Palmer said.
“Australia’s political leaders need to stand up for Australian workers by publicly condemning this cynical blueprint that treats our legal processes with contempt and our citizens as fools to be ‘organised’ against their own nation’s interests.”
The detailed plan to disrupt the Australian coal industry is funded by the U.S.-based Rockefeller Family Fund, which is bankrolled by donations from the descendants of U.S. oil magnate John D. Rockefeller. It was written by John Hepburn, an employee of multinational lobby group Greenpeace and other professional activists.
One of the key objectives of the plan is to whip up a so-called “Battle of Galilee” targeting mining and infrastructure investment in the remote Galilee Basin of central Queensland where Waratah Coal has planned operations.
Palmer said Hutton’s anti-coal seam gas group Lock the Gate Alliance was another example of the dishonest attempts to prevent the economic development needed in Queensland to pay off the state’s soaring debt.
“All resource projects in this country have to undergo a rigorous environmental impact statement process prior to approval,” he said.
