With the Queensland government having approved the expansion and extension of Glencore's Hail Creek open cut coal mine, it's up to the Albanese government to step in to halt the detonation of this carbon bomb, the Australian Conservation Foundation said.
The Queensland government has approved Glencore's proposal to expand the notorious coal mine in Queensland's Bowen Basin and extend its closure by three years out to 2038.
"Although Hail Creek coal mine only produces around 1% of the coal dug up in Australia, it is a super emitter, responsible for around 20% of Australia's coal mine methane," said ACF climate campaigner Freja Leonard.
"Queensland is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions nationally and the Hail Creek carbon bomb is a huge part of the problem. "It should be shut down and cleaned up, not given a licence to extend and expand.
"The Queensland government's approval is a slap in the face to Australians who have just lived through a devastating summer of extreme heat and unnatural disasters.
"We call on federal environment minister Murray Watt to reject Glencore's proposal to make climate change even worse by expanding Hail Creek.
"The climate and environmental damage from Hail Creek isn't worth the relatively small quantity of coal it produces. We urge Minister Watt to act to protect nature and the climate."
As a signatory to the Global Methane Pledge, Australia is committed to the global goal of reducing methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 while improving the transparency and accuracy of methane reporting. Methane is a highly potent climate-heating gas.
In 2024, ACF revealed Hail Creek released more methane pollution in 16 days than Glencore reported was emitted for the coal mine over an entire year.
Last month, Minister Watt approved the expansion of the Middlemount coal mine, also in Queensland. The extension of Middlemount - jointly owned by Peabody (US) and Yancoal (China) - will result in the clearing of habitat for koalas and greater gliders, the diversion of a waterway and the export of about 85m tonnes of coal over 24 years.
