Out of sightout of mind d
Impacts of Japanese useof Australian coal

Cover top. Electrical lines above a Japanese city street.
Cover bottom. Leard State Forest.
Photos: Licenced by The Australia Institute.

Contents
Summary........................................................................................................................................ 3
Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 6
Australian coal industry......................................................................................................8
Global size....................................................................................................................................8
Coal in the Australian economy ...................................................................................8
Coal's political influence ................................................................................................. 10
Australian opposition.......................................................................................................... 11

Coal's impacts in Australia.............................................................................................13
Forest and animal habitat................................................................................................13
Water.............................................................................................................................................16
Great Barrier Reef................................................................................................................. 17
Human health........................................................................................................................20

The future......................................................................................................................................22

Author: Rod Campbell,
The Australia Institute2

Summary
While a small part of the economy, Australia’s
coal industry has huge political influence. It
makes large donations to political parties and also
provides jobs to key politicians and their staff
when they want to, or are forced to, leave politics.
This movement of staff between mining lobby
groups and political offices is often referred to asa ‘revolving door’ — politicians leave politics forjobs in mining, while mining lobbyists walk into
political jobs.

Japan uses a lot of coal. The 170
million tonnes the country burned in2020 is enough to fill the Tokyo Dome
102 times over.
Burning so much coal is a key reason Japan is thefifth-largest greenhouse emitter in the world. If theworld is to avoid dangerous climate change, coaluse must be phased out.
Japan’s coal use not only contributes to climatechange, but has major impacts on Australia. Japan
imports almost all of its coal, and over 60% ofJapan’s coal comes from Australia. In recent years,
coal mines have expanded in size and have had
major impacts on the Great Barrier Reef, forests(including koala habitats), rivers, farms, ruralcommunities, and also on human health, First
Nations peoples’ rights and workers’ rights. Theseissues make regular headlines in the Australian
media as communities challenge coal companies on
their environmental and workplace standards.

While Australia’s coal industry is very powerful,it also faces strong opposition. A wide range ofcommunity, environment and farming groups
oppose expansion of coal in Australia and push
for the phase out of the industry. This oppositionis having some success. Ten years after huge newmines were proposed in Queensland’s Galilee
Basin, mines big enough to double Australia’s coalexports, none of these mines have produced any
coal.
The reason for this opposition goes beyond concern
for global climate change. Most coal mined inAustralia comes from ‘open-cut’ mines — hugeholes in the ground that destroy everything on topof the coal. In one region alone, the New South
Wales (NSW) Hunter Valley, the unfilled holes fromthese mines will be as large as Tokyo’s Shinjukuku, Shibuya-ku, Minato-ku and Chiyoda-ku
combined. These mines destroy forests, including
koala habitats and farms. Japanese companies
such as Itochu, J-Power, Idemitsu and Sumitomo
have interests in three mines that are destroying
half of the Leard State Forest in NSW, considered
the ecological “lynch pin” of the Liverpool Plains
region northwest of Sydney. Despite huge public
protests and prosecutions under environmental
laws, these mines continue.

Japan is Australia’s largest coal customer, andJapanese coal demand is a key factor in thedevelopment of Australia’s coal export industry.
Historically, Japan bought over half of Australia’s
coal exports, and many mines are part-owned by
Japanese companies.
Now, Australia is the second-largest exporter ofcoal in the world after Indonesia, and Australia’s
exports of coal and gas combine to make it thethird-largest exporter of greenhouse gas pollution,
after Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Despite the impact of Australian coal on global
markets and the global climate, it has a small
impact on the Australian economy. Just 0.3% ofAustralian jobs are in coal mining — 99.7% ofAustralians do not work in the coal industry. The
taxes and fees paid by the coal industry to all levelsof government in Australia account for less than
2% of total government revenue.

3

Coal mines use a lot of water. Farmers in Australia
often lead protests against mines due to their water
impacts. The most controversial coal company
in Australia, the Indian energy company Adani,
intends to use 12 billion litres of water per year.
This is equivalent to the water a Japanese city of
100,000 people would consume annually. Scientists
expect this mine will destroy ancient springs in
the Galilee Basin and the animals and plants that
depend on them, including koalas, kangaroos andthe rare Black-throated Finch. Adani has also been
fined for releasing coal-laden water into sensitive
wetlands next to the Great Barrier Reef.

To address climate change, protect Australian
biodiversity and water resources, and improve
air quality and human health in Japan andAustralia, Australian coal exports and Japanesecoal consumption must be phased out. Numerous
research programs have shown this can beachieved without major disruption to economies
or energy systems.
Huge progress has been made. In 2015, Australiancoal exports to Japan grew by 28% in the preceding
five years and official forecasts expected another
15% growth by 2020. Instead, 2020 levels arelargely unchanged from 2015. Similarly, while
Japanese coal demand had been expected to growsubstantially, it has declined in recent years.

Despite being one of the world’s great natural
treasures and a UNESCO World Heritage site, theGreat Barrier Reef is being steadily destroyed byclimate change. The rising global temperature isincreasing the number and severity of tropicalstorms, making the ocean more acidic andcontributing to coral bleaching.

On the other hand, Australian and Japaneseinterests are still working not only to expand
existing coal mines, but to find new uses forAustralian coal. For example, Kawasaki Heavy
Industries is looking to use Victorian brown coal,
the lowest quality coal in Australia, to create
and export hydrogen. Despite claims that carbon
pollution would be captured, carbon capture
projects have failed for decades in Australia andnone are currently operating.

In March 2020, the Reef suffered its worst coralbleaching episode yet, affecting the main parts of
the Reef. The route from many Australian mines toJapan takes coal transport ships straight throughthe Reef, and the irony of the coal that threatens
the Reef’s very existence being shipped through its
waters has not been lost on Australians.

With collaboration between Japanese andAustralian communities, progress is possible
to reduce the damage caused by coal mining inAustralia and coal consumption in Japan. The aimof this report is to support this collaboration.

As well as being destructive to plants, animals,
rivers and forests, coal mining is also hazardous tohuman health. Poor safety standards have led toa resurgence of black lung disease in Australia, an
incurable condition that affects coal miners. Long
thought to be eradicated in Australia, it re-emergedin 2015, including in Japanese-owned mines, with133 cases counted by 2020. Communities adjacent
to coal railways and ports are also affected by coal
dust.

4

Important koala
habitat is being
cleared for opencut mines d

Previous page. Koala.
Photo: Spill Photography/Shutterstock.com

Introduction
Though coal has a problem ― it emits a large
amount of greenhouse gas ― it is currently
evaluated as a fuel for an important base-load
power supply because it involves the lowest
geopolitical risk and has the lowest price per unitof heat energy among fossil fuels.5

Japan uses a lot of coal. The 170
million tonnes the country burned in2020 is enough to fill the Tokyo Dome
102 times over.1
Burning this coal contributes to the poor air quality
in Japan’s cities. At least 60,000 premature deaths
occur from air pollution in Japan every year.2
Beyond the pollution in Japanese skies, this coalproduces around 490 million tonnes of greenhousegasses that contribute to climate change.3 Burning
so much coal is a key reason Japan is the fifthlargest greenhouse gas emitting country in theworld.

The suggestion that coal provides cheap energy
is wrong. In Australia and the United States,
new renewable energy capacity has been cheaper
than new coal capacity for several years.6 Recent
estimates for Japan suggest that new renewables
will be cheaper than new coal by 2022 and cheaper
than existing coal by 2025.7 More importantly,
however, the Japanese Government policy ignoresthe many costs coal imposes on human health andthe environment.

If the world is to avoid dangerous climate change,
coal use must be phased out. While Japan has takensome steps towards reducing its coal use and has
committed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050,
progress will require more than words. The country
has 162 coal-fired power plants operating and afurther 16 are planned for the future.4

Most Japanese people are aware of the climate crisis
and air pollution from using coal. However, coalalso has many other damaging impacts that are lessfamiliar to Japanese consumers, because they are felt
in the places where coal is mined and transported,
not where it is consumed.

A plan to phase out coal-fired power by 2030
has been prepared by Japanese environment andcommunity groups, such as Japan Beyond Coal andKiko Network, but this phase-out is not supportedby the Japanese Government. In fact, the country’s
main energy policy document, the 2018 Fifth
Strategic Energy Plan, describes coal as follows:

1

2

3

Almost all of Japan’s coal is imported, and the vast
majority of Japan’s coal imports come from Australia.
In 2020, 106 million tonnes of coal was shipped from
Australia to Japan, 63% of Japan’s total.8 Indonesia
and Russia account for most of the rest of Japan’s
imports.

International Energy Agency (2020) Coal 2020: Analysis and forecast
to 2025, https://www.iea.org/reports/coal-2020; Tokyo Dome (nodate) What is Tokyo Dome?, https://www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/en/
tourists/dome/about.html; Aqua-Calc (no date) Calculate weight ofcompounds and materials per volume, https://www.aqua-calc.com/
calculate/volume-to-weight
Cohen et al (2017) Estimates and 25-year trends of the global burdenof disease attributable to ambient air pollution: an analysis of datafrom the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2015, https://www.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)30505-6/
fulltext#%20
Calculation based on a CO2 emissions factor of 2.86, sourced from US
Energy Information Administration (1994) Carbon dioxide emission
factors for coal, https://www.eia.gov/coal/production/quarterly/
co2_article/co2.html#:~:text=The%20amount%20of%20heat%20
emitted,components%20vary%20by%20coal%20rank.

64Japan Beyond Coal (2021) Database update: Latest status of coal-fired
power plants, https://beyond-coal.jp/en/

5

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (2018) Strategic Energy
Plan (Provisional Translation), July 2018, p 24https://www.meti.
go.jp/english/press/2018/pdf/0703_002c.pdf

6

See for example levelised cost estimates in Lazard (2020) Levelized
cost of energy and levelized cost of storage – 2020, https://www.
lazard.com/perspective/lcoe2020

7

Institute for Future Initiatives: University of Tokyo et al (2019) Landof the rising sun and offshore wind, https://www.powermag.
com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/land_of_the_rising_sun_and_offshore_wind_carbon_tracker_7_10_19.pdf

8Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy andResources (2020) Resources and energy quarterly: December
2020, https://publications.industry.gov.au/publications/
resourcesandenergyquarterlydecember2020/index.html

As well as buying Australian coal, Japanesecompanies also own stakes in many coal mines inAustralia, including some of the most controversial
mines in the country. Many of these Japanesecompanies are well-known, including Mitsui,
Mitsubishi, J-Power, Itochu, Idemitsu and others.
Some of these companies are not looking to moveaway from coal, but are actually searching for
new ways to use more coal. Despite claims to thecontrary, these “new” uses — such as creatinghydrogen and other gasses and fuels — produce hugeamounts of greenhouse gas pollution, with proposed
carbon capture and storage technologies (CCS) still
years away from completion.

This report looks in detail at the true costs of Japan’s
reliance on Australian coal: the environmental
damage (both in Australia and to the world as awhole), the toll on human health, and the shortsighted, incomplete economic approaches that allow
coal to be seen as “cheap” in the first place, especiallyin an age where renewable energy and energy
efficiency technologies are providing stiff competition
on price.
This document will enable Japanese consumers,
investors and parliamentarians to make informed
decisions about supporting the current strategy ofcontinued investment in, and expansion of, Japan’scoal-fired power infrastructure.

As the source of much of Japan’s coal, many of the
impacts of coal production are felt in Australia. In
recent years, coal mines have expanded in size andhave had major impacts on the Great Barrier Reef,
forests (including koala habitats), rivers, farms,
rural communities, and also on human health, First
Nations peoples’ rights and workers’ rights. Theseissues make regular headlines in the Australian
media as communities challenge coal companies on
their environmental and workplace standards.

Below. Yokosuka Coal Power construction site, Japan.
Photo: Japan Beyond Coal

7

Australiancoal industry
Global size

Coal in the Australianeconomy – few jobs,
minimal tax payments

Australia is the second largest
exporter of coal in the world afterIndonesia. Of the 1.2 billion tonnes ofcoal traded internationally in 2020,
366 million tonnes (31%) came from
Australia, and 404 million tonnes(34%) from Indonesia.9

Despite Australia being a big partof the world’s coal trade, the coalindustry is not a significant part ofAustralia’s economy.

Australia’s exports of coal and gas combine to
make it the third-largest exporter of greenhousegas pollution, after Russia and Saudi Arabia.10

The industry is highly automated, using many
machines but employing few people. It pays little
in taxes and other fees and most profits go to theinternational mining companies that own mostof the mines, not to Australian communities andgovernments.

Australia’s coal industry is already big and intends
to more than double in size. Even though avoiding
climate change requires that the world use lesscoal, there are proposals for new mines that would
add potential production from new mines of 527
million tonnes per year.11

Just 0.3% of jobs in Australia are in coal mining— so 99.7% are not. Even in Queensland, the statethat mines the most coal, just 0.9% of workers workin coal mining.13 Vastly more Australians workin education (8.5%) and health care (13.8%) thanin coal mining.14 While coal can be a significant
employer in particular towns in mining regions,overall it is not a significant employer in theAustralian economy. There are already somepromising initiatives by local unions, climategroups and communities that aim to help thesetowns shift to other industries including
renewable energy.15

Japan is Australia’s largest coal customer, andJapanese coal demand is a key factor in thedevelopment of Australia’s coal export industry. In
2020, 27% of Australia’s coal exports went to Japan.
While other countries are now also importantcustomers for Australian coal companies (forexample, China bought 24% of Australia’s 2019
coal exports), historically, Japan has bought overhalf of Australia’s coal exports.12 Without sustained
demand for coal by Japan, it is likely that Australia
would never have become the major coal andcarbon pollution exporter that it is today.

9

International Energy Agency (2020) Coal 2020: Analysis and forecast
to 2025, https://www.iea.org/reports/coal-2020

10

Swann (2019) High Carbon from a Land Down Under: Quantifying
CO2 from Australia’s fossil fuel mining and exports, https://
australiainstitute.org.au/report/high-carbon-from-a-land-downunder-quantifying-co2-from-australias-fossil-fuel-mining-andexports/

11

Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy andResources (2020) Resources and energy quarterly: December
2020, https://publications.industry.gov.au/publications/
resourcesandenergyquarterlydecember2020/index.html

812Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy andResources (2020) Resources and energy quarterly: December
2020, https://publications.industry.gov.au/publications/
resourcesandenergyquarterlydecember2020/index.html

13

ABS (2020) 6291.0.55.003 Labour Force, Australia, Table 6, EQ06,
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-andunemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed-quarterly/
latest-release#data-downloads-data-cubes

14

ABS (2020) 6291.0.55.003 Labour Force, Australia, Table 6, EQ06

15

See for example the Hunter Jobs Alliance - https://www.
hunterjobsalliance.org.au/

The taxes and royalties paid by the coal industry
to all levels of government account for less than
2% of total government revenue.16 For context,
revenue fluctuates by between 3-8% every year
without damaging the capability of the budget.17
In Queensland, where royalties make up thebiggest portion of revenue, the coal industry only
contributes 6% of the state’s revenue.18 This is lessthan the Queensland government will earn frommotor vehicle registration in 2020–21.19 In essence,
the federal and state governments in no way relyon the contribution of coal to fund public goods.

There is considerable Japanese investment inAustralia’s coal industry, but more concerningly,
many of the mining companies that operate inAustralia use tax havens to minimise any kind of
payments to Australia. For example, major mining
company BHP was forced to pay $529 million (¥42
billion) in tax back payments due to inappropriate
tax avoidance through its Singapore subsidiaries.25
BHP partners with Mitsubishi in many Australiancoal projects, potentially linking these tax
avoidance issues to a major Japanese company.
This means profits from Australia’s coal exports
largely go to international investors, not theAustralian community. Just as opponents of Kansai
Electric Power Co’s Sendai Power Station complainthat “Tokyo gets the electricity, Kansai gets the
profits, Sendai gets the pollution”, similarly inregards to Australia’s coal exports, “Japan gets thecoal, tax havens take the profits, Australia is left
with the mess.”

When considering the taxes paid by the coalindustry in Australia, it is important to rememberthat the industry also receives subsidies from
Australian governments. Each year the coalindustry enjoys at least $1 billion (¥80 billion) in
fuel tax credits from the federal government.20 State
governments provide subsidised infrastructure
and other assistance. From 2008 to 2014, state
governments spent almost $10 billion (¥806 billion)
on subsidies to the coal industry.21
The coal industry often claims it is one ofAustralia’s largest export industries. This istrue. Coal worth $55 billion (¥4,440 billion) was
sold in 2020,22 representing 14.7% of the valueof Australia’s total exports.23 However, the coalindustry does not mention that it is mostly foreign
owned. While we talk about the “Australian” coalindustry, at least 80% of the industry is owned byoverseas investors.24

16

22

Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy andResources (2020) Resources and energy quarterly: December
2020, https://publications.industry.gov.au/publications/
resourcesandenergyquarterlydecember2020/index.html

23

ABS (2020) 5368.0.55.006 Characteristics of Australian Exporters,
Table 2, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/
international-trade/characteristics-australian-exporters/latestrelease#:~:text=The%20total%20value%20of%20exports,and%20
liquefied%20natural%20gas%20exports.

Quicke (2020) Government digs deep for mining company
tax rebates, https://nb.tai.org.au/2020_budget_wrap?utm_
campaign=budget2020_wrap&utm_medium=email&utm_
source=theausinstitute#mining

24

Richardson and Denniss (2011) Mining the truth:
the rhetoric and reality of the commodities
boom, https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/
mining-the-truth-the-rhetoric-and-reality-of-the-commodities-boom/

Peel, Campbell and Denniss (2014) Mining the age ofentitlement: State government assistance to the minerals andfossil fuel sector, https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/
mining-the-age-of-entitlement/

25

Chau (2018) BHP settles tax dispute with ATO for $529 million,
without admitting fault, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-1119/bhp-settles-ato-dispute-for-$529-million-without-admittingfault/10511924

Forthcoming17

ABS (2020) Government Finance Statistics, Australia 2018-2019,https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/government/
government-finance-statistics-annual/2018-19#data-download

18

Queensland Treasury (2020) Budget Papers 2020-21, https://budget.
qld.gov.au/budget-papers/

19

Queensland Treasury (2020) Budget Papers 2020-21, https://budget.
qld.gov.au/budget-papers/

20

21

9

Below. Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison took coal into
parliament to show support for the industry.
Photo: Licenced by The Australia Institute.

Coal’s political influencein Australia
Despite being a very small part of
the Australian economy, the coalindustry has huge political influencein Australia.
The current Prime Minister Scott Morrison once
waved a lump of coal around while making aspeech in Parliament, the last Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull supported the industry,26 whileearlier Prime Minister Tony Abbott declared thatcoal was “good for humanity”.27
There are several reasons why the coal industry has
so much influence. Most obviously, it makes large
donations to political parties. Donations from thecoal, oil and gas industries to political parties in
2018–19 totalled nearly $2 million (¥160 million).28
More importantly, the coal industry dominates
the lobby groups of the wider mining industry.
For example, even though Australia’s exports ofiron ore are worth twice as much as coal exports,
the powerful Minerals Council of Australia — thenational industry association for the mining sector— gets three times as much media exposure forcoal than it does for iron ore.29
These groups are immensely powerful. The
Minerals Council of Australia boasted that it had
been able to have Australia’s pioneering carbon
price and a mining tax abolished, key issues inthe downfall of two Australian governments.30
Staff exchanges between mining lobby groups andpolitical offices are often referred to as a ‘revolving
door’— politicians leave politics for jobs in mining,
while mining lobbyists walk into political jobs.
For example, a former Minerals Council executive
is now Prime Minister Morrison’s Chief of Staff,
while former Federal Resources Minister Ian
Macfarlane left politics and became the head of thecoal-dominated Queensland Resources Council.31

26

Hannam (2015) Malcolm Turnbull’s five mistakes about coal,https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/malcolmturnbulls-five-mistakes-about-coal-20151029-gkldzv.html

29

Swann et al (2017) What does the MCA stand for? Mainly
Coal Advocacy, https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/
what-does-the-mca-stand-for-mainly-coal-advocacy/27

ABC (2014) Coal ‘good for humanity’, Prime Minister
Tony Abbott says at $3.9b Queensland mine opening,https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-13/
coal-is-good-for-humanity-pm-tony-abbott-says/5810244

30

Minerals Council of Australia (2013) Annual Report

31

Parkinson (2018) Former coal industry boss is Scott Morrison’s chiefof staff, https://reneweconomy.com.au/former-coal-industry-bossis-scott-morrisons-chief-of-staff-69647/; QRC (2021) Ian Macfarlane,
https://www.qrc.org.au/staffs/ian-macfarlane-2/

28

Australian Conservation Foundation (2020) Fossil fuelmoney: distorting democracy, https://www.acf.org.au/
fossil_fuel_money_distorting_democracy

10

The campaign against coal in the Galilee Basin,
particularly against the mine proposed byIndian company Adani, has united people acrossAustralia. In addition to public protests against
the mine, several court cases were launchedagainst it. Some were lost, while others weresuccessful — the federal government was found
not to have properly assessed the impact on
species like the Yakka Skink (a small lizard) and
Ornamental Snake, both classed as ‘vulnerable’by the Australian government, and temporarily
overturned the mine’s approval.32

Australian opposition
to the coal industry
While Australia’s coal industry isvery powerful, it also faces strong
opposition.
A wide range of community, environment andfarming groups oppose expansion of coal inAustralia and are pushing for the phase out of theindustry. Opposition to coal takes many forms.
Sometimes there are street protests and campaigns
to write to politicians, but some campaigns havegone much further.

Opposition to banks and companies that wereconsidering working with Adani is widespread.
People were encouraged to close their accounts
with banks considering lending money to the mine.
This was highly successful. All the major banksin Australia refused to fund Adani,33 and two
Japanese banks — Nippon Life and Dai Ichi Life —also ruled out financing the project.34 Protests were
held outside large engineering companies looking
to work with Adani, which helped persuade thesecompanies not to work on the mine.35

The best known is the fight against huge newmines in the region of Queensland known as theGalilee Basin. Mines with annual capacity of over
300 million tonnes are proposed — an amount ofcoal almost double Japan’s annual demand. These
mines are planned to run for over 60 years, far
beyond the period the world has to decarbonise if
dangerous climate change is to be avoided.

The campaign against the Galilee Basin has been
largely successful. Ten years after the main mines
were proposed, none have produced any coal.
Adani claims it will produce some coal this year,
but the size of its mine has been cut back to onesixth of its original size, and no other mines are
currently under construction. This has been a major
victory for anti-coal and climate campaigners
against some of Australia’s most powerfulcompanies and political interests.

32

Cox (2015) Federal Court overturns approval of Adani Carmichaelcoal mine in Queensland, https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/3258629/environmentalists-big-win-over-adani-coal-mine/

33

Robertson (2017) Big four banks distance themselves from Adanicoalmine as Westpac rules out loan, https://www.theguardian.com/
environment/2017/apr/28/big-four-banks-all-refuse-to-fund-adanicoalmine-after-westpac-rules-out-loan

34

Market Forces (2021) The Adani List: Companies that could make or
break the Carmichael Coal Project, https://www.marketforces.org.
au/info/key-issues/theadanilist/

35

Smee (2019) Global engineering firm GHD concludes work on
Adani's Carmichael coal project, https://www.theguardian.com/
environment/2019/dec/17/global-engineering-firm-ghd-concludeswork-on-adanis-carmichael-coal-project

Left. School strike for climate, 2019. Photo: Ryan Chenoweth
Following page. Latham's snipe.
Photo: Jukka Jantunen/Shutterstock.com
11

Latham’s Snipe
migrates from
Hokkaido to areasof Australia
threatened bycoal mines dCoal's impacts
in Australia
There are three large open-cut mines in theLeard State Forest, all of which have expanded
in recent years, with further expansions possible.
These mines will eventually clear almost halfof the forest — 3,834 hectares — including 38%
of critically endangered white-box woodland.42
That is equal to about 5,500 soccer fields of native
forest, or the combined area of Shinjuku-ku andMinato-ku, including about 1,700 soccer fields ofthe endangered white-box woodland, the area of
Shibuya-ku.

Forests and animal habitat
Most coal mined in Australia comesfrom ‘open-cut’ mines — huge holes
in the ground that trucks drive into,
load up the coal and drive out, usually
taking the coal to a train line fortransport to ports.
Open-cut mines destroy everything on top of thecoal deposit and impact a wide area around themine. Less than 20% of Australia’s coal comes fromunderground mines that use tunnels to access thecoal and cause less disturbance at ground level.36

Each mine will leave huge voids when mining
stops. In total, around 900ha or 1,400 soccer pitchesof forest will become holes, nearly the area of
Bunkyo-ku.43 These holes fill with water, which canbe extremely saline or toxic, and are surrounded by
highwalls prone to land slips that put human andanimal lives at risk.44

The open-cut mines of the Hunter Valley in NSW,
Latrobe Valley in Victoria and Bowen Basin in
Queensland can easily be seen in satellite images.
Hunter Valley mines will leave unfilled holes
across an area of 6,050 hectares,37 equivalent to8,400 soccer fields, or the area of Tokyo’s Shinjukuku, Shibuya-ku, Minato-ku and Chiyoda-ku
combined.
Coal mines often destroy areas of forest inAustralia. One example is the Leard State Forest in
NSW. The forest is an important conservation areawith thousands of hectares of koala habitat.38 The
forest here is particularly important, as it serves as
a “stepping stone” for koalas moving from one area
to another with the seasons.39
The Leard State Forest is also one of the largest
remnant areas of critically endangered native“white box” woodland and is considered theecological “lynch pin” of the Liverpool Plains
region, northwest of Sydney. There are 20
threatened bird species, including the criticallyendangered Regent Honeyeater, and six threatened
bat species in the forest. An additional 15
threatened or migratory species occur in the wider
area. These include Latham’s Snipe, also known
as the Japanese Snipe, which migrates to Japanto breed.40 Seven endangered and 14 regionallysignificant plant species potentially are found onsite.4113

36

Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy andResources (2020) Resources and energy quarterly: December
2020, https://publications.industry.gov.au/publications/
resourcesandenergyquarterlydecember2020/index.html

37

Walters (2016) The Hole Truth: The mess coal companies plan
to leave in NSW, http://downloads.erinsights.com/reports/
the_whole_truth_LR.pdf

38

NSW Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) (2012), Maules Creek
Coal Project: Review report, p 21, http://www.pac.nsw.gov.au/resources/pac/media/files/pac/projects/2011/08/maules-creekcoal-project/completed-review-report/maules-creek-review-report-main-volumepdf.pdf

39

Fuller (2012) Concern for Koalas in the Leard State Forest, http://
www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2012/11/12/3630754.htm

40Birdlife Australia (no date) Latham’s Snipe, www.birdlife.org.au/
bird-profile/lathams-snipe

41

PAC (2012) Maules Creek Coal Project: Review report, p 15-16,
http://www.pac.nsw.gov.au/resources/pac/media/files/pac/projects/2011/08/maules-creek-coal-project/completed-reviewreport/maules-creek-review-report--main-volumepdf.pdf

42

Calculated from Planning Assessment Commission review reports
for Maules Creek, Tarrawonga and Boggabri, available at https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects

43

Walters (2016) The Hole Truth, Energy & Resource Insights, p 8,
http://downloads.erinsights.com/reports/the_whole_truth_LR.pdf

44

Ibid., p 4, 9-15

Leard State Forest, theecological “lynch pin” of
the Liverpool Plains region, ishome to 20 threatened bird
species, including the criticallyendangered Regent
Honeyeater d

14

Previous page. Regent Honeyeater.
Photo: Pradeep Pandiyan/Shutterstock.com

Temperature check: Greening Australia's warming cities.

The coal companies are supposed to create“environmental offsets” to plant or restore areas ofsimilar forest in an attempt to compensate for thedestruction the mines cause. The coal companies inthe Leard State Forest have regularly been accusedof failing to do this, with charges against them laidby the NSW government.45

The Aboriginal people of the area, the Gomeroi
people, also opposed the mines. They asked thenfederal Minister for the Environment Greg Huntto stop them, as sacred burial sites were being
destroyed. Sacred areas were bulldozed, and theGomeroi’s request to salvage their cultural artefacts
was refused by the mining companies.55

Japanese companies have been involved in all
three mines destroying the Leard State Forest.
The largest mine, the Maules Creek Mine, is 15%
owned by ICRAMC Pty Ltd (an Itochu Corp entity)
and 10% owned by J-POWER, and 75% owned by
Whitehaven Coal.46 Whitehaven is an Australiancompany, with around half of its sales revenue
coming from Japan. Its chairman is Mark Vaile,
the former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia,
another example of the ‘revolving door’ between
politics and coal companies.47

Despite the protests, all three mines eventuallywent ahead, approved by the state and federal
governments, both with close links to the coalindustry. Sadly, the mines have been as destructive
as their opponents feared, putting the future of thekoala and other plants and animals at risk.

The next largest mine, Tarrawonga, was partly
owned by Idemitsu until it sold its share in 2018.48
Idemitsu owns 80% of the adjacent Boggabri mine,with stakes also owned by Chugoku Electric Power,
Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation.49
The mines and the destruction of the forest were
opposed by local people, including the Laird
brothers — fifth-generation farmers, after whose
ancestors the Leard State Forest is named.50 People
from all around Australia joined them, including
92-year old war veteran Bill Ryan51 and David
Pocock, a former captain of Australia’s national
rugby union team who also played in Japan for thePanasonic Wild Knights. Pocock said:“I believe it's time for direct action on climatechange, standing together as ordinary Australians
to take control of our shared future.”52
Protests delayed the action for at least 18 months.53
By early 2016, 400 to 450 people had beenarrested,54 and many hundreds more attended theprotests.

15

45

Hannam (2020) Whitehaven Coal faces 16 charges for breaching NSW
mining laws, https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/whitehavencoal-faces-16-charges-for-breaching-nsw-mining-laws-20200811p55kk2.html

46

Mining Data Online (no date) https://miningdataonline.com/
property/331/Maules-Creek-Mine.aspx

47Whitehaven Coal (2020) Annual report, https://whitehavencoal.
com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Whitehaven-Coal-AnnualReport-2020.pdf

48

Murphy (2018) Whitehaven Coal buys Idemitsu's Tarrawonga mineshare, https://www.northerndailyleader.com.au/story/5402888/
whitehaven-coal-takes-over-full-ownership-of-tarrawonga-mine/

49

Idemitsu (no date) Boggabri Coal https://www.idemitsu.com.
au/operations/boggabri-coal/; Nippon Steel (2015) Announcing
Acquisition of 10% Interest in Boggabri Coal Mine, https://www.
nipponsteel.com/en/news/20150323_100.html

50

Laird (2014) Our history and struggle for our land at Maules
Creek NSW - the Laird Family, http://web.archive.org/
web/20180411224034/https://www.wilderness.org.au/articles/
our-history-and-struggle-our-land-maules-creek-nsw-laird-family

51

Staff Writer (2014) Kokoda Track veteran Bill Ryan, aged 92, arrested
at mine protest, http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/kokodatrack-veteran-bill-ryan-aged-92-arrested-at-mine-protest/news-story/263ce81f4b8134a642166b8085826b9a?nk=2e467983dd127e480f2d57a
43e72fd20-1485144461

52

Reuters (2014) Former Wallabies captain David Pocock arrested at
NSW coal mine protest in Leard State Forest, http://www.abc.net.
au/news/2014-11-30/former-wallabies-captain-pocock-arrested-atcoal-mine-protest/5929024

53

Powell (2014) Trees are starting to fall in Leard State
Forest, Greenpeace, http://www.greenpeace.org.au/blog/
trees-are-starting-to-fall-in-leard-state-forest/

54

Mitchell (2016) EPA Investigating ‘Black Dust Plume’ atWhitehaven Coal Site, https://newmatilda.com/2016/03/03/epainvestigating-black-dust-whitehaven-coal-site/ https://newmatilda.
com/2016/05/22/whitehaven-eying-more-coal-in-maules-creek/

55

Validakis (2014) Traditional Owners say Whitehaven Coal have“disrespected” them, https://www.australianmining.com.au/news/
traditional-owners-say-whitehaven-coal-have-disrespected-them/

The most controversial coal company in Australia,
the Indian energy company Adani, will also havea big impact on water in Australia. The company’s
mine proposal could use up to 12 billion litres ofwater per year. The average Japanese person uses
314 litres per year, so the mine would have water
use equivalent to that of a Japanese city of 100,000
people, in an arid area of Australia. Scientists
expect that this impact will destroy ancient springsin the area as well as the animals and plants that
depend on them, including koalas, kangaroos andthe rare Black-throated Finch.60

Water
Coal mines use a lot of water. Theyuse it for washing and processing thecoal, preventing it from catching fireas well as to keep down dust on theirroads and waste piles.
Coal mines also affect groundwater as it drains
into the mine, often affecting rivers connected to
groundwater sources.
In the Leard State Forest discussed above,
the Maules Creek mine has been particularly
controversial, using 60 times more water than it
was licenced to use in 2016 – effectively stealingwater.56 In 2019, the mine was accused of stealing
groundwater from local farmers,57 and in February
2020, locals complained of finding small white
styrofoam balls — used in the mining process — inthe local river system.58

Adani also owns a major coal port on the
Queensland coast, Abbot Point Coal Terminal,adjacent to important wetlands and the Great
Barrier Reef. In 2018, the company was fined forpolluting the wetlands with coal-laden water.61 The
Great Barrier Reef has been central in the debates
and politics around coal and climate change inAustralia.

Perhaps the most controversial coal mine in
relation to water is the Watermark mine proposal,
owned by Chinese company Shenhua. If it goesahead, this mine will be located in some ofAustralia’s best irrigated farming areas in theLiverpool Plains northwest of Sydney.

Scientists expect the
proposed Adani minewould destroy ancientsprings in the area aswell as the animals andplants that depend onthem, including koalas,
kangaroos and the rareBlack-throated Finch.60

These farms rely heavily on groundwater, and local
farmers have campaigned strongly against thismine.59

56

Lock the Gate (2019) Regulator finds unlawful water take at
Whitehaven's Maules Creek coal mine, https://www.lockthegate.
org.au/regulator_finds_unlawful_maules_water_take

57

Ibid.

58

Lock the Gate (2020) Farmers fear Whitehaven may havecontaminated river system, https://www.lockthegate.org.au/
farmers_fear_whitehaven_may_have_contaminated_river_system

59

Foley (2020) Shenhua coal mine questioned over 'disturbing' water
report omissions, https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/
shenhua-coal-mine-questioned-over-disturbing-water-reportomissions-20200616-p5532i.html

1660

Slezak (2018) Adani plans to protect desert springs are worthless,water experts say, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-0619/adani-plans-to-protect-desert-springs-worthless-expertssay/9882548; Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport
and Tourism (2008) Water resources in Japan, https://www.
mlit.go.jp/tochimizushigen/mizsei/water_resources/contents/
current_state2.html; Queensland Government (2020) Wildlifeof Doongmabulla Springs DIWA nationally important wetland,
https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/facts-maps/
wildlife/?AreaID=diwa-wetland-doongmabulla-springs

61

Horn (2018) Adani prosecuted over release of coal-laden water
near Great Barrier Reef, https://www.abc.net.au/news/201809-05/adani-prosecuted-over-release-of-sediment-near-barrierreef/10204374

Great Barrier Reef
As well as some 50 coal mines,62
Queensland is also home to theGreat Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World
Heritage site. This famous naturalwonder is the largest reef system in
the world, eight times longer than theworld’s next longest reef, and aroundthe same size as Japan.63
The Reef has 1,600 species of fish, 600 varieties ofcoral, and over 30 types of whale and dolphin.64
The Great Barrier Reef has long been among the
top Australian attractions for Japanese tourists.
Sadly, despite being one of the world’s great
natural treasures, the Reef is being steadily
destroyed by climate change. The rising global
temperature is increasing the frequency andseverity of tropical storms, making the ocean more
acidic and contributing to coral bleaching.
This bleaching becomes worse with every passing
year. In 1998, the Great Barrier Reef experienced
its worst coral bleaching for 700 years. This was ataste of what was to come: the bleaching was worse
in 2002,65 and since then the Reef has suffered threeeven worse bleaching events over the course of
only five years. The most recent, in March 2020,
was the most widespread yet, simultaneously
affecting all three sections of the Reef — Northern,
Central and Southern — for the first time.66
62

Queensland Government (2019) 2019 Calendar Year
— Coal Production Statistics, https://www.data.
qld.gov.au/dataset/annual-coal-statistics/resource/
d22a8d8b-7c00-42d2-884a-c438d51cefc3

63

Australian Government (2017) Facts about the Great
Barrier Reef, http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/about-the-reef/
facts-about-the-great-barrier-reef

64

Australian Government (2017) Facts about the Great Barrier Reef,
http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/about-the-reef/facts-about-the-greatbarrier-reef and http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/about-the-reef/
biodiversity

65

Queensland Government (2017) Biodiscovery and the Great Barrier
Reef: Human Impact on the Reef, http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/
microsites/biodiscovery/05human-impact/climate-change.html

66

Readfearn (2020) Great Barrier Reef's third mass bleaching in five
years the most widespread yet, https://www.theguardian.com/
environment/2020/apr/07/great-barrier-reefs-third-mass-bleachingin-five-years-the-most-widespread-everRight. Green turtle, Great Barrier Reef.
Photo: Regien Paassen/Shutterstock.com
17

The map shows the extent of the damage.

Coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef,
March 2020

The route from many Australian mines to Japantakes coal transport ships straight through theGreat Barrier Reef, and the irony of the coal thatthreatens the Reef’s very existence being shipped
through its waters has not been lost on Australians.
The possibility of a coal ship running agroundon the Reef is an ever-present danger, and even
without such a catastrophic event, the expansion ofcoal ports at Hay Point and Abbot Point threaten
the Reef with destructive sediment.67
It is unsurprising, then, that conflict between thecoal industry and people wanting to protect theReef have become a central issue in Australianpolitics.
Some examples of this conflict include:•

Reef tourism businesses writing to the Prime
Minister of Australia urging the government torule out new coal mines.68•

Australia’s most senior marine scientists callingfor coal mine approvals to be revoked in thewake of mass bleaching events.69•

World renowned naturalist David
Attenborough condemning Australia’s attitude
to the reef and its cavalier approach to coalmines: “[Australia has] been upstanding andtalking about what I see as the truth, [but thenit] suddenly says, ‘No, it doesn’t matter ... itdoesn’t matter how much coal we burn ... we
don’t give a damn what it does to the rest of
the world.’”70

Source: ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies

18

67

Flannery (2014) The Great Barrier Reef and the coal mine that
could kill it, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/
aug/01/-sp-great-barrier-reef-and-coal-mine-could-kill-it

68

Slezak (2016) Great Barrier Reef: tourism operators urge Australian
government to tackle climate change, https://www.theguardian.
com/environment/2016/may/07/great-barrier-reef-tourismoperators-urge-australian-government-to-tackle-climate-change

69

Wilacy (2017) Great Barrier Reef: 'Godfather of Coral'
urges Adani approval rethink following recent bleaching
events, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-22/
godfather-of-coral-urges-adani-mine-approval-rethink/8639082

70

Cox (2019), David Attenborough attacks Australian PM on climate
record and support for coal, https://www.theguardian.com/
environment/2019/sep/24/david-attenborough-attacks-australianpm-on-climate-record-and-support-for-coalThe expansion of coal ports
at Hay Point and Abbot Point
threaten the Reef withdestructive sediment d

19

Previous page. Great Barrier Reef.
Photo: Tanya Puntti/Shutterstock.com

Workers, their families, and trade unions have all
been appalled at the re-emergence of black lungdisease in Australia. A parliamentary inquiryin Queensland found the disease’s return was
attributable to a number of factors, including
failures of regulatory and monitoring systems, theincreased use of contract and non-union labour anda culture where companies focused more on profits
than safety.

Human healthAs well as being destructive to theenvironment, coal mining is alsohazardous to human health. The
greatest danger is the dust produced.
As well as powdered coal, dust can include
heavy metals like arsenic and mercury, which
are toxic and carcinogenic on inhalation, even at
low concentrations. Exposure to these substances
can lead to cancer, heart disease and respiratory
problems. The dust is also combustible, and someof the worst mining accidents in history have
involved dust explosions.

Sadly, that inquiry also found some mine operators
were reluctant to take responsibility for the healthof their workers, citing “responses ranging fromquick acknowledgement and action to blameshifting and avoidance.”76 Mine workers who gave
evidence to the inquiry were fearful about possible
recrimination from mine owners, including
possible sacking:Black lung disease, otherwise known as “coalworker’s pneumoconiosis,” is caused by prolonged
exposure to coal dust and has no cure once
contracted. An Australian government inquiry
described black lung as, “a cruel and insidious
disease which can lie dormant in an individual formany years and which will inevitably result in that
person’s early death.”71“I will lose my job for speaking [publicly]. Thereis no doubt about that… No one who has spoken[today] still works there. They have all gone sothey probably feel a bit more protected.
If you mouth off, you are not going to stay there
long. You will get done for a safety issue orsomething. Like I said, I understand you guys
saying you can offer protection. You cannot. Sorry,guys. They will pick me on something else. They
will pick me on a safety issue or something elseand I will be gone.”77

In 2013, there were an estimated 25,000 deaths
worldwide due to black lung, mainly in developing
countries.72 In Australia, black lung was thought
to be eradicated, with no cases reported since the1980s.73 However, it re-emerged in Queensland coalmines in 2015,74 with 133 cases counted by 2020.75

2071

Senate Select Committee on Health (2016) Fifth Interim Report (BlackLung) – Black Lung: “It has buggered my life”, page xi, http://www.
aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Health/
Health/Fifth_Interim_Report.

72

Queensland Parliament (2017) Black lung, white lies: Inquiry into the
re-identification of Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis in Queensland,
page 57, http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Documents/
TableOffice/TabledPapers/2017/5517T815.pdf

73

Queensland Parliament (2017) page 5.

74

ABC (2017) Black lung inquiry finds 'catastrophic failure' inpublic administration in Queensland, http://www.abc.net.au/
news/2017-05-29/black-lung-report-catastrophic-failure-qld-publicadministration/8568000

75

Burt and McGhee (2020) Cases of mine-dust lung disease
and silicosis increasingly found in Queensland coal mine
workers, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-25/
silicosis-and-black-lung-cases-rise-queensland-workers/11998404

76

Queensland Parliament (2017), p 221

77

Queensland Parliament (2017), p 246

Below. Coal mining truck.
Photo: Steve Morfi/Shutterstock.com

The inquiry expressed strong disappointment that
one of the five major Queensland mine operators,
BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), had to becompelled to appear before the inquiry.78 In August
2017, the Queensland Mines Minister threatened toclose down four coal mines for failing to meet theirdust-monitoring obligations.79“We are the world’s largest coal terminal andexperience an unfair burden — air and waterpollution, uncovered coal trains and stockpiles, adevastated natural environment and an economy
that relies too heavily on the declining coalindustry.”82

Beyond the effects on the miners themselves, coalmines can also affect the health of surrounding
communities. Higher-than-normal rates of
respiratory disease, lung cancer, and low birthweight all occur in townships that are situatedclose to mines.80 These effects are not confinedto the places where coal is produced. Coal istransported in uncovered wagons and storedin piles at export ports like Newcastle, north of
Sydney. It is the world’s biggest coal export port,
and residents remain fearful of the effects of living
in a city through which so much coal passes. In
the words of Newcastle resident and air quality
campaigner81 James Whelan:

77

Queensland Parliament (2017), p 246

78

Queensland Parliament (2017), p 250

79

O’Brien (2017) Failure to meet dust-monitoring obligations may close
four Queensland coal mines, Minister says, http://www.abc.net.au/
news/2017-08-11/failure-meet-dust-monitoring-may-close-4-qldcoal-mines-minister/8795234

80

Australian Mine Safety Journal (2017) Health Hazards in Coal
Mining, https://www.amsj.com.au/health-hazards-coal-mining/

81

The Change Agency (no date) Who We Are, https://www.
thechangeagency.org/community-organising-fellowship/
who-we-are/82

Kirkwood & Kelly (2018) Controversial fourth Newcastle coal loader
now history, https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/5440760/
pwcs-officially-cancels-t4-coal-loader/21

Following page. Tiger Quoll.
Photo: Craig Dingle/Shutterstock.com

The future
Similarly, in 2015 the Australian Government
expected Japan to import 289 million tonnes ofcoal in 2020, including an astonishing 244 million
tonnes of thermal coal for power stations.85 Instead,Japan imported only 170 million tonnes, 133
million of which was thermal coal.86

To address climate change, protect
Australian biodiversity and water
resources, and improve air quality
and human health in Japan andAustralia, Australian coal exports andJapanese coal consumption need tobe phased out.

On the other hand, Australian and Japaneseinterests are still working not only to expand
existing coal mines, but to find new uses forAustralian coal. For example, Kawasaki Heavy
Industries is looking to use Victorian brown coal,
the lowest quality coal in Australia, to create andexport hydrogen. The Australian and Victorian
Governments subsidise this project with taxpayer
funds.87 If developed at scale, this would create
huge quantities of greenhouse gases. Kawasaki’s
claims that it could capture the pollution and store
it underground are contradicted by decades ofsubsidies to carbon capture and storage, yet there
is currently no operating CCS project in Australia.88
As would be expected, community opposition tothis project is strong.89

Japan Beyond Coal’s goal of phasing out coal
power by 2030 is not only inevitable for Japan’ssustainable energy transition and climate
protection, but also for Australia’s clean and safe
future. Numerous research programs have shownthat this can be achieved without major disruption
to economies or energy systems.83
A reason to be optimistic is that, compared to
predictions just a few years ago, Australia isexporting, and Japan is importing, far less coalthan expected. In 2015, Australia exported 385
million tonnes of coal, an increase of 28% on
the 301 million tonnes exported in 2010. At thattime, official Australian Government forecasts
expected exports to increase by another 15% to 445
million tonnes of coal in 2020. Instead, Australia’s
exports in 2020 were 390 million tonnes, virtuallyunchanged over five years.84

83

With collaboration between Japanese andAustralian communities, progress is possible on
reducing the damage caused by coal mining inAustralia and coal consumption in Japan.

See for example Denniss et al (2016) Never gonna dig you up!
Modelling the economic impacts of a moratorium on new coal mines,
https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/a-coal-moratorium-and-theaustralian-economy/; Quiggin (2020) Getting off coal: Economic andsocial policies to manage the phase-out of thermal coal in Australia,
https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/getting-off-coal-economicand-social-policies-to-manage-the-phase-out-of-thermal-coal-inaustralia/; Renewable Energy Institute (2020) Proposal for 2030
Energy Mix in Japan: Establish a Society Based on Renewable Energy,
https://www.renewable-ei.org/en/activities/reports/20200806.php

84

Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources(2020) Resources and energy quarterly, various years.

85

As opposed to metallurgical coal for making steel.
Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy andResources (2015) Resources and energy quarterly: March
2015 forecast data, https://www.industry.gov.au/dataand-publications/resources-and-energy-quarterly-all/resources-and-energy-quarterly-march-2015

22

86International Energy Agency (2020) Coal 2020: Analysis and forecast
to 2025, https://www.iea.org/reports/coal-2020

87

HESC (2020) About Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain, https://hydrogenenergysupplychain.com/about-hesc/

88

Brown and Swann (2017) Money for nothing, https://
australiainstitute.org.au/report/money-for-nothing/; Note thatat time of writing, Australia’s one CCS project at the Gorgon Gas
plant was not operational. See Cox (2021) Western Australia LNG
plant faces calls to shut down until faulty carbon capture system isfixed, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/15/
western-australia-lng-plant-faces-calls-to-shut-down-until-faultycarbon-capture-system-is-fixed

89

Platt (2019) Start made on Hastings hydrogenplant, http://baysidenews.com.au/2019/07/22/
start-made-on-hastings-hydrogen-plant/Japan can help
Australian threatened
species by ending
its reliance onAustralian coal dWith collaboration
between Japanese andAustralian communities,
progress is possible on
reducing the damage
caused by coal mining
in Australia and coalconsumption in Japan dAustralian Conservation Foundation
Wurundjeri Country,
Level 1, 60 Leicester Street
Carlton VIC 3053
ABN 22 007 498 482

Telephone 1800 223 669
Website acf.org.au
Email acf@acf.org.au
Twitter @AusConservation