India's former environment minister says he's appalled by Australia's decision to approve Adani's massive new coal mine in Queensland, and has questioned the Indian miner's environmental track record.
Jairam Ramesh has told the ABC the mine will threaten the survival of the Great Barrier Reef, and Adani's record in environmental management in India "leaves a lot to be desired".
"And if it leaves a lot to be desired domestically, there's no reason for me to believe that Adani would be a responsible environmental player globally," he's told the broadcaster's Four Corners program.
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Mr Ramesh said the federal and Queensland governments had not properly looked at the Adani Group's environmental and financial conduct in India before approving the mine in the Galilee Basin.
"I'm very, very surprised that the Australian Government, for whatever reason, has seen it fit to all along hand-hold Mr Adani; he is not one of the shining stars of environmental stewardship," he said.
That Australia would consider giving concessional loans and other financial breaks to Adani was almost beyond belief given the consequences for climate change, he said.
"You're giving a tax break to a project that is actually going to have adverse environmental consequences, which will have multiplying effects on weather patterns in the region, across the world. I find it bizarre," he said.
"The Great Barrier Reef happens to be in Australia, but it's a common heritage of mankind, it belongs to the world."
A spokesman for federal Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said Adani's new mine would create thousands of jobs.
Activists protest against the Adani mine in Brisbane. Source: AAP
"State and federal governments have put in place more than 300 strict conditions on the Adani mine," he said.
"The consideration of Adani's environmental history was the most comprehensive ever undertaken under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999."
Adani said it operated within the law and defended its environmental record, citing cases before India's Supreme Court.
"Adani Group adhere to the laws of the land in which we operate, be it India or any other of the 50 geographies we work in," the company said in a statement.
"We cannot be held to either ransom or blackmail by media organisations that indulge into sensationalism without any basis and contrary to facts."
AAP has sought comment from the Queensland government.
