CEO and Country Head of Adani Australia, Lucas Dow, has today given evidence to the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth that Australian banks and insurance companies are destroying Australian jobs and communities to satisfy demands from green activists.
The Joint Standing Committee is holding a public hearing for the Inquiry into the prudential regulation of investment in Australia’s export industries.
Mr Dow said Australian banks and insurance companies are withdrawing support from the Australian coal industry by refusing to provide finance, increasing insurance premiums dramatically, or even refusing to insure at all while continuing to profit from the strong economy that the industry creates.
The banks and insurance companies’ current actions threaten viability of the Australian export coal industry and the jobs, small businesses and communities it supports.
The banks and insurance companies current actions will have no effect on the global environment given that if Australian coal is not exported, other countries will simply fill the void with lower quality higher emissions coal.
“It is hypocritical for Australian banks to benefit financially from the hard work of Australian coal miners but refuse to support the very industry that employs them,” Mr Dow said.
“It appears banks and insurers are kowtowing to the demands of green activists for no benefit to the global environment.
“They are happy to profit from the coal industry when employees pay interest on loans for their houses, four-wheel drives and jet skis, but they refuse to provide the relevant financial facilities to the export coal industry as they do other Australian industries.” he said.
“Hardworking Australians are the ones who will suffer from coal mining jobs disappearing if the industry becomes non-competitive because of rising insurance and finance costs as banks and insurers withdraw support for the industry.
“This is a matter of national interest, Australia must require its banks and insurance companies to support the economy and communities that they build their profits from.”
The Committee will have heard from a variety of organisations across the resources industry, outlining their concerns about the behaviour of Australian banks and insurance agencies, including: Whitehaven Coal, Resource Industry Network, Queensland Resources Council, Minerals Council of Australia, New Hope Group, BMD, Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association and Adani Australia.
Greg Brown from The Australian wrote an interesting article about Adani Australia’s submission to the inquiry this morning, you can read it here.
To watch the hearing live visit: Watch Parliament – Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au)
To read Adani Australia’s full submission visit: Submissions – Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au)
To find out more about the Inquiry visit: Inquiry into the prudential regulation of investment in Australia’s export industries – Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au)