• Federal Coalition and Labor MPs a key target for 2018

• Mass trainings, mobilisations, electoral organising, new doco launched

On the first sitting day of Federal Parliament, hundreds of Stop Adani supporters have gathered outside Parliament to put their plans to Stop Adani’s mega coal mine and move Australia beyond coal front and centre of the 2018 political agenda. High-quality stills and vision can be made available. 

The 2018 campaign plan (see below) includes Bernie Sanders-style boot camps, door knocking and phone banking, sustained actions targeting MPs, electoral organisingincluding in the seat of Batman, community screenings of a new documentary and mass mobilisations.

Maggie McKeown, Community Organiser, Mackay Conservation Group said, “Last week new polling showed the vast majority of Australians don’t want Adani’s mine to wreck our Reef, cook our climate, drain our water or trash Indigenous land rights.

“We’re gearing up to knock on tens of thousands of doors in our local communities, visit MP’s offices week after week, and organise mass mobilisations throughout the year. In the lead up to the next federal election we’ll keep telling  Bill Shorten that he needs to get off the fence and oppose the mine. Likewise, the Prime Minister has a clear choice: Stop Adani or face relentless community opposition.

“Our people powered movement is growing by the day. Last year, the campaign saw 28 global banks, including Chinese funders, say no to backing the mine. We won a Queensland government veto of the $1 billion public loan to Adani, and pressured Downer EDI to walk away from a $2 billion contract. In 2018, we’ll keep pushing until Adani’s plans are dust.”

Professor Will Steffen, Climate Council Councillor and ANU climate scientist said, “If we are serious about taking action on climate change, Australia's existing coal reserves must be left in the ground, unburned. No new coal mines can go ahead.

“Last year increasing heat, driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels, exacerbated extreme weather events around the globe and in Australia. As records keep tumbling, it’s clear the world cannot afford Adani’s mine”.

Dr Lindsay Simpson, Qld tourism award winner and Whitsunday Reef operator who was a delegate on the 2017 #StopAdani tour of India said, “I've seen first-hand what Adani has done in India with its coal fired power plant in Mundra and its port at Haziri. Adani reshaped the coastline entirely, they ruined important fishing grounds, breached environmental conditions, and never paid their fines.

“What we saw in India was a scary look into the future of what we might expect if Adani comes to our shores and digs Australia's largest coal mine, and the world's largest coal terminal right next to the Great Barrier Reef.

“I am just one of 69,000 people employed in the Reef tourism industry. We can't afford to stand idly by and allow governments to let this mine go ahead,” Dr Simpson said.

Joseph Zane Sikulu, Climate Warrior, 350.org Pacific said, "The Australian Government is failing in its responsibility as a big brother to the Pacific. Letting this new coal mine go ahead would completely blow out the climate action targets the Australian government has signed up to.

“The Stop Adani movement has grown beyond Australia to the Pacific. We’re ready to stand alongside our indigenous brothers and sisters to ensure this mine does not go ahead."

2018 Plans to #StopAdani & Move Australia #BeyondCoal

In 2017, we took great strides to #StopAdani - pushing Australian and Chinese banks to say no to funding the mine, pressuring the Queensland government to veto the $1 billion loan, and seeing Downer break $2 billion in ties with Adani. Along the way, we built a colourful and powerful nation-wide movement, whose vision for a world without Adani’s mine is shared by the majority of Australians. There are now well over one hundred active groups across the country, and the combined membership of these groups and the organisations of the Stop Adani Alliance well and truly top two million Australians.

In 2018, the #StopAdani movement is ramping up to stop Adani’s mine once and for all, and fundamentally shift the politics of coal. Plans are already afoot and include:

Documentary Screenings: In February we will launch the second #StopAdani movement documentary, “A Mighty Force”, which will be screened in communities around the country to grow and galvanise local action groups for the year ahead.

Campaign Boot Camps: Hundreds of grassroots leaders will come together in dozens of bootcamps around the country to set strategy and plan activities for the months ahead.

Sustained Local Actions: Throughout 2018, #StopAdani groups will take action in their communities, again and again, generating unwavering pressure on every MP to commit to do what it takes to #StopAdani, and get on with the important work of stopping new coal mines and investing in clean energy.

Mass Mobilisations: At key political moments, we will mobilise en masse to demonstrate the power and size of our movement and show Adani, potential financial backers and our politicians that we won’t stop until we #StopAdani.

Electoral Organising: In the lead up to the next federal election, we’ll pull out all the stops to knock on thousands of doors, have thousands of conversations and make moving beyond coal mines like Adani the biggest issue to shape how Australians vote, including in the seat of Batman.

The vast majority of Australians want to Stop Adani. In 2018, we’re going to do what it takes to make sure our politicians finally listen to us, and stop this polluting proposal once and for all.