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Wellington climate activists call on Australian Government to stop Adani coal mine

WELLINGTON, 8 May, 2017 -- 350 Aotearoa will launch their Global Divestment Mobilisation campaign tomorrow in Wellington, calling on governments, banks, universities and other institutions to take their money out of fossil fuels.

The focus of the New Zealand campaign is the coal mine proposed by Indian mining conglomerate Adani in Carmichael, Queensland. Adani plans on extracting 60 million tonnes of coal per year in an open cast and underground mine with a footprint the size of Invercargill. Climate activists across the Tasman are undertaking joint action calling on the Australian Government to withdraw their support for the mine.

Activists in Wellington will create a piece of street theatre outside the Australian Embassy to highlight the dangers of rising sea levels caused by climate change to the livelihoods and homes of New Zealanders, before handing over a letter to the High Commission that calls on Malcolm Turnbull directly to stop the Adani mine.

Activists in Dunedin will also be calling on ANZ to divest, in the wake of the bank’s announcement that they will have an ethical fund that will not have investments in tobacco and weapons due to public concern over ethics.

“Hundreds of people in Aotearoa and Australia are coming together to take action against the climate catastrophe that is the Adani mine, and to let ANZ know that fossil fuels are a moral issue too”, said 350 Aotearoa Executive Director Niamh O’Flynn.

“We are making it clear to the Australian Government and to ANZ that now is the time to listen to the will of the people and rule out the Carmichael coal mine”, O’Flynn added.

“The science is clear: coal, oil and gas are not our future”, said O’Flynn. “Right now, Cyclone Donna is causing devastation in the South Pacific. Just a few weeks ago, Edgecumbe had to be evacuated. Scientific predictions of stronger, more intense cyclones over a longer season, and more frequent and severe floods as a result of climate change are starting to be realised. Fossil fuels are a massive contributor to this accelerated global warming.”

Dates for further actions are as follows:

Auckland - 10 May

Dunedin - 12 May

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