The Adani coal mine is a test of Australia's environmental intelligence and capacity to grasp the dire effects of climate change, former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown says.
The ex-Tasmania senator leaves Brisbane on Tuesday at the head of his Stop Adani Convoy bound for Queensland's coal country, where he expects a warm welcome from communities fearful of job losses due to the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef, which is vulnerable to climate change.
The convoy, which aims to derail Adani's plans for a new coal mine in the Galilee Basin, drew thousands of people to a protest in Brisbane on Monday.
Mr Brown says he anticipates a similar response as the convoy heads to coastal communities near existing coal mines.
"I've been to Airlie Beach quite recently. People up there are terrified about burning coal because it's threatening 64,000 jobs on the Great Barrier Reef," Mr Brown told ABC radio on Tuesday.
"This is not some sort of doom and gloom. The reef is half dead. And a major factor in that is the burning of coal."
Mr Brown said many Australians understood the inherent harm in allowing an overseas company to dig up Australian coal and sell it overseas, especially when Australia could be a world leader in renewable energy.
Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane, who is a former federal energy minister, agrees coal-fired power will be phased out.
But he reiterated the federal government's warning that Adani would source lower quality coal from other countries if denied access to Queensland's 'cleaner' coal.
"We want to make sure that if people are burning coal, that it is of the highest quality, mined to the highest standard, and that's Queensland coal."
The convoy, which left Hobart about a week ago, is heading north. An event to mark the end of the Queensland leg will be held in the farming and mining town of Clermont on April 28.
Meanwhile, Mr Brown has written to the Australian Federal Police after a threatening comment was posted by a member of the public on the Facebook page of LNP MP Michelle Landry
The post read: "Is it too early to start culling the green activist herd... I really believe we would benefit from shooting a thousand or so."
Australian Associated Press
