{"id":472256,"date":"2026-02-13T11:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T11:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/472256\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T11:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T11:23:13","slug":"qld-coalmine-expansion-approved-by-albanese-government-will-clear-habitat-and-fuel-climate-crisis-scientists-say-coal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/472256\/","title":{"rendered":"Qld coalmine expansion approved by Albanese government will clear habitat and fuel climate crisis, scientists say | Coal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Albanese government has approved the expansion of a Queensland<\/a> coalmine that will clear habitat for threatened koalas and greater gliders and add further fuel to the climate crisis, conservationists say.<\/p>\n

The extension of the Middlemount mine in Queensland\u2019s Bowen Basin \u2013 jointly owned by US company Peabody and China-owned Yancoal \u2013 would see about 85m tonnes of coal exported over 24 years.<\/p>\n

Conservationists estimated that burning the coal overseas to make steel or electricity would release about 236m tonnes of CO2 over the project\u2019s lifetime \u2013 the equivalent of almost half of Australia\u2019s current annual footprint.<\/p>\n

About 81 hectares (200 acres) of greater glider habitat and 183 hectares of koala habitat was approved for clearing. Company documents show a 1,557 hectare site has been identified as an area to be secured to \u201coffset\u201d the clearing.<\/p>\n

Among a list of conditions imposed by the government<\/a> designed to limit harm to threatened species, Middlemount has been asked to identify and then relocate any tree hollows used by the gliders.<\/p>\n

But ecologists said greater gliders \u2013 Australia\u2019s largest gliding marsupial \u2013 would probably die because of the clearing and dismissed the plan to relocate their homes.<\/p>\n

Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n

Prof Euan Ritchie, an ecologist at Deakin University, said: \u201cDestroying the equivalent of 40 MCGs worth of greater glider habitat and then attempting to relocate all hollows and claim this somehow offsets the harm to greater gliders is genuinely deluded, and contemptuous.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said if it was even possible to safely remove the tree hollows, relocating them would probably change their thermal properties and microclimate, \u201cmeaning gliders may no longer find them suitable, and hollows may be located in a tree or part of the tree they don\u2019t prefer\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake no mistake, many greater gliders will die as a result of this action and ridiculous offset measure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t keep destroying the homes of threatened native wildlife and say we\u2019re saving them by using ever more absurd and nonsensical mitigation approaches.\u201d<\/p>\n

With every new or expanded coalmine they approve, the Albanese government is burning our futureDr Claire Gronow<\/p>\n

Prof David Lindenmayer, a forest ecologist at the Australian National University, echoed Ritchie\u2019s concerns and said the mine approval \u201ccondemns these animals to die\u201d.<\/p>\n

Habitat clearing and global heating are among the key threats facing the species, which was designated endangered in 2022<\/a> only six years after it first appeared on the national threatened species list.<\/p>\n

Middlemount is the second coalmine extension to be approved by the federal government this year after last month\u2019s green light for the Meandu mine in Queensland that provides fuel to Tarong power stations.<\/p>\n

Dr Claire Gronow, the central Queensland coordinator for environment group Lock the Gate, said: \u201cWith every new or expanded coalmine they approve, the Albanese government is burning our future and burning their own credibility. Now is the time to be implementing an orderly transition away from coal, not approving massive expansions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charlie Cox, a campaigner at the Queensland Conservation Council, said: \u201cThe science is unwavering \u2013 digging and burning coal is fundamentally changing our climate, driving more frequent rain events and flooding.<\/p>\n

\u201cAllowing Yancoal to extract and export another 236m tonnes of climate pollution tells Queenslanders the Albanese government does not care about our safety, our health, or our cost of living.\u201d<\/p>\n

A federal government spokesperson said the approval of Middlemount had come with several strict conditions to minimise potential impacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe imposed conditions will ensure protection of water resources and listed threatened species and ecological communities. This includes mitigation measures like pre-clearance surveys, safe fauna crossing areas, defined clearing boundaries, weed and pest animal management, and tree hollow translocation. Offsets for residual significant impacts are also required.\u201d<\/p>\n

A statement said the government was \u201cstrongly committed to action on climate change and our net zero targets\u201d, adding the mine was already subject to the safeguard mechanism requiring it to reduce greenhouse emissions each year and reach net zero by 2050.<\/p>\n

The safeguard mechanism only impacts emissions occurring in Australia. The vast majority of the emissions from the mine will occur when the coal is burned overseas.<\/p>\n

The Guardian has approached Yancoal and Peabody for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Albanese government has approved the expansion of a Queensland coalmine that will clear habitat for threatened koalas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-472256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}