Weeks after four major insurers withdrew their policies from the Adani coalmine in Carmichael, Queensland, the company has come out swinging at activists and those who support them.
Adani says its commercial contracts are private in nature but still insists it has adequate insurance to continue its operations. The coal mine’s representatives say activists and their supporters have ignored the facts surrounding their commercial success.
“Anti-mining activists and the so-called charities that fund and employ them have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at us to try and stop us building the Carmichael mine and rail project and they have failed,” an Adani spokesperson told Insurance Business Australia.
“What the activists blatantly ignore is the $1 billion in contracts we have now awarded and the many individuals, small businesses and large organisations who are proud to partner with us and be part of the Australian coal industry, our country’s second-biggest exporter.”
After more than eight years of working on the Carmichael project, Adani says it has repeatedly “demonstrated that we will not be intimidated or deterred” from delivering on its promises to Queenslanders and will “continue to get on with construction.”
“We appreciate that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but we request that debate is centred on the facts,” the spokesperson said.
Adani’s reaction comes after HDI, AXA XL, Liberty Mutual and Aspen Insurance revealed this month they would not have any further business involvement with the controversial coal mine outside of current contractual duties, citing climate change concerns.
Adani did not respond to questions put forward surrounding which insurers are currently providing it policies and if the project was given notice from its former insurers on their withdrawal.
The coalmine is located 300km west of the Queensland coast and is one of the most controversial projects in Australia’s history – with various politicians, activists and public figures decrying its work to export coal through Adani’s Abbott Point terminal to power plants.
