By Ugly

It’s great to hear that a major engineering firm has decided to cut its ties with the Adani project at Abbott Point terminal and will refuse to work on the Carmichael coal mine.

Both should never happen, and it’s an absolute disgrace that the federal and Queensland governments have gone along behind it. Their blind service to a company proved to be corrupt and an industry going against even Australia’s meagre commitments in Paris, will go down in history as a shameful blot.

Countering this, thousands of ordinary Australians have taken up the battle to put a stop to it. Through every twist and turn they have persisted.

It is likely to be this that has figured highly in the decision by Aurecon to pull out.

Adani thought he was finally on the winning block. This has knocked him back some. Aurecon needs to be replaced. Insurance still needs to be sorted out and a way to secure the needed $2 billion has not been sorted out yet.

It is far from a done deal, even if the machinery has begun to operate on the mine site. The real work is still only an ambition.

Campaigners are out to convince more companies to pull lout. The one being focussed on now is called GHD. They are an engineering company too. There have been actions at their offices. And there will be more. At the end of the day, the longer-term cost of involvement could be more than its worth. This is the message that is being put to them.

People do need projects that provide jobs. Nowhere is this truer than in north Queensland. The governments have been failing to play their vital role in this, and gone about pretending that Adani is the answer, and the claims have been seriously inflated.

This dishonesty must be met with some serious proposals to provide jobs and at the same time, ensure a local sustainable economy.