By Blair Palese 

Last night we saw a close race in Melbourne’s seat of Batman with Labor’s Ged Kearney ultimately winning the day.

It’s been an incredible six weeks of campaigning with the battle to stop the Adani coal project a major issue on the election agenda thanks to the hard work and amazing effort of hundreds of concerned volunteers. The 350 team want to say thank you to all of you for the door knocking, phone calling and for your passion for climate protection.

There is no question now that we need to break the bipartisan support for the Adani mine. Our campaign won’t stop here. With your help, we’ll continue our efforts to break all political support for the Adani mine and support for new coal mines in Canberra. Given the urgency of climate change, it’s a campaign that, together, we have to win.

We believe Ged Kearney’s win was in large part helped by her clear opposition to Adani during the campaign. We look forward to working with her to make sure the ALP policy nationally moves to opposing the mine.

 

Bill Shorten may breath a sigh of relief at the ALP’s win in Batman but he cannot take that victory for granted. Adani has been a key election issue in Melbourne and voters have chosen a candidate who said she was personally opposed to the Adani mine, despite the very confusing and conflicting statements from the ALP. It’s now time for us to demand all political parties to clearly oppose Adani.

The Adani company proposes to build the biggest coal mine in Australia, which will operate for more than 50 years, in a brand new coal basin. If the Adani project goes ahead, other coal mines in the Galilee Basin will undoubtedly follow. The Adani coal mine is the core challenge facing our response to climate change because, to meet our Paris climate commitments, we have to stop digging up any more polluting coal. That means no new coal mines… anywhere.

Whether you live in Batman or near the Barrier Reef, Adani is an issue of national significance – and one that can and should influence the outcome of every election going forward.

With two-thirds of Australians opposing the Adani project and the polls showing that voters of all political parties are against tax-payer support for the mine, stopping Adani and a plan for transitioning away from coal is a critical issue for all of us.

Thanks to all of our hard-working volunteers for working so hard during the Batman campaign. Stay with us to ensure we stop the Adani coal mine once and for all. Together, we can stop this mine.