Democracy, fairness and the right to peaceful protest are all on the line in a crucial legal battle against mining giant Adani. Brisbane Dad Ben Pennings needs your help.

In 2020 coal giant Adani launched an all out attack against Brisbane-based community activist and father Ben Pennings in an attempt to stifle dissent and intimidate other people working to protect communities and the climate from coal mining. Adani’s self-described “trained attack-dog” legal strategy aims to silence the rest of us by making life hell for Ben.

Adani secretly sought court orders to raid Ben’s family home and hired private investigators to follow and photograph him and his family, including his then 9-year-old child walking to primary school. Since then Adani has aggressively pursued damages in a civil suit which threatens Ben’s family home in Brisbane.

In Dec 2024, the Supreme Court struck out substantial parts of Adani’s case against Ben, describing some of the company’s claims as “confused and embarrassing”.

But the fight is not yet over. Adani has filed a fourth and fifth version of its claims in 2025 and now names deceased war veterans as co-conspirators.

While multibillion dollar mining giant Adani has unlimited finances to drag this case out for as long as possible, Ben’s legal defence is dependent on the generosity of donors. The fossil fuel industry is hoping this case will set a precedent that will help stifle climate activism in Australia. Ben needs your support to continue this fight for our democratic rights, and win.

Fighting - and winning - this case is vital to keeping Australian civil society healthy and thriving.

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