Emails obtained under freedom of information show that in a controversial move the Indian conglomerate Adani has demanded the names of all federal agency scientists reviewing its contentious groundwater plans for the mega coalmine it plans to build in central Queensland, so it could check if they were “anti-coal” activists.
The revelation by ABC News has alarmed CSIRO staff representatives, who said it indicated Adani had “a deliberate strategy” to pressure scientists by searching for personal information it could use to try to “discredit their work”.
The Adani action has been defended by the conservative Liberal-National government’s deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack who said the company feared they may be anti-coal activists.
ABC News reported emails obtained under freedom of information by environmental group Lock The Gate show Adani gave the federal environment department five days to provide “a list of each person from the CSIRO and Geoscience Australia involved in the review”.
“Adani simply wants to know who is involved in the review to provide it with peace of mind that it is being treated fairly and that the review will not be hijacked by activists with a political, as opposed to scientific, agenda,” the company told the department on January 25.
Mr McCormack said he could understand the “frustration” of the proponents of the Carmichael mine.
“They were made to jump through more environmental hoops than perhaps any previous project in the nation,” he told ABC Radio.
“And no doubt they wanted to determine that those arguing against their proposals were not just some quasi anti-development groups or individuals.”
When pressed, Mr McCormack accepted that the CSIRO was “independent”, adding that he respected its work “and always will”.
A environment department spokesperson said it “consulted with CSIRO and Geoscience Australia about Adani’s request” but did not provide the names “as the advice on the plans was received from CSIRO and Geoscience Australia, rather than individuals within those agencies”.
Days before the demand, in a January 21 newspaper article Adani had questioned the independence of a scientist leading a Queensland review into the company’s bird conservation plan because he tweeted from a climate rally nine months earlier.
The ABC revealed in February that Adani last year hired a law firm, AJ and Co, that had drafted a commercial proposal called “Taking the Gloves Off”, in which it vowed to act as the company’s “trained attack dog”.
It proposed a “war” strategy including that Adani “not settle for government department’s dragging out decisions and use the legal system to pressure decision makers”.
ABC News reports last week Adani said in a statement it had “never seen, received or endorsed the AJ and Co pages published by the ABC”.
Adani said it had written to the federal environment department in January to request “assurance that individuals involved in any review processes were independent”.
This followed “concerning reports at the time that the state environmental regulator had commissioned a review which constituted individuals who had expressed anti-coal, anti-mining sentiments”, it said.
Sam Popovski, secretary of the CSIRO staff association, said it was “the first time it’s come to our attention that names of scientists involved in a scientific process have been requested”.
“We’re very concerned on behalf of our scientists at the CSIRO that a big company would go into looking at the personal lives of our members, including trawling their social media, in order to potentially discredit their work,” he said.
“It was clear that Adani seemed to be suggesting bias, or potential bias, way before any of the scientific evidence was actually presented to the department.
“Our scientists just want to get on and do their best job they can and provide the most rigorous, independent scientific advice, without their social media being tracked, and without their personal lives and potentially their families’ personal lives being assessed and interfered with.”
ABC News reports emails show that 10 days before Adani asked for names, Geoscience Australia’s acting director of groundwater advice and data raised concerns that Adani had “actively searched/viewed” his and a colleague’s LinkedIn profiles.
Emails also highlight concerns at CSIRO’s senior ranks around relaying its findings of flaws in Adani’s draft plans to then federal Environment Minister Melissa Price, who later issued approvals in controversial circumstances.
Lock the Gate campaigner Ellie Smith said: “We saw in the case of the independent review of the black-throated finch that scientists’ names were brought through the mud through the media.”
“So I can imagine that there was a lot of pressure on those individuals within Geoscience Australia and CSIRO.”
Kirsten Lovejoy, a former Australian Greens Party candidate and long-time policy adviser in the Queensland Environment Department, said she discovered an AJ and Co lawyer viewed her profile in March.
“It was more than a little disturbing, they were looking for details about me personally,” she said.
“People who work for various organisations, including the public service, have to adhere to processes and codes that make sure that they operate with integrity.
“To see undue pressure placed on those organisations is particularly outrageous.”
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One Response
What type of country are we living in under the LNP Government – seems like Russia or China. Don’t we have freedom of speech or opinion any more? The new Adani coal mine is a contentious development and it’s also logical to be anti-coal, it’s pollution is harmful to our health and environment. Would Michael McCormick wish to argue against medical scientists who say this in their research?