Greens MP calls for the coal industry to be SHUT DOWN - costing Australia's economy $25billion a year and thousands of jobs but he says the environment should come first
- Greens MP Adam Bandt has called for the coal industry to be shutdown
- He argues that public money is better spent on schools and hospitals
- The coal industry boosted Australia's economy by $25billion last year
- Glencore, largest coal miner in Australia, is scaling back its coal operation
Greens MP Adam Bandt has called for the coal industry to be shut down, saying it would be shameful for the government to spend public money on 'bankrolling coal' instead of schools and hospitals.
Mr Bandt, the federal MP for Melbourne, made the controversial comments despite the coal industry earning $25billion in the past year and employing an estimated 10,000 people.
Asked what alternative employment there was for those workers if coal was shut down, Mr Bandt said the interests of the environment should be put first.
'If it’s a toxic substance, you shouldn’t be selling it,' Mr Bandt said on Sky News.
'We don’t say, ‘well there are jobs in the asbestos industry so therefore we should allow asbestos mining to continue’.'
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Greens MP Adam Bandt (pictured) has called for the coal industry to be shutdown in a new interview
The 46-year-old said the subsidies that were given to the coal industry would be better spent on repairing areas of the country that had been ravaged by fires and floods.
'At the moment the government is going hell for leather trying to find ways of bankrolling coal and they have made that crystal clear and they've invited expressions of interest from various coal companies and power stations around the place,' Mr Bandt told Sky news.
'They are looking at ways to use public money - that could be going to schools and hospitals - to bankroll coal.
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'Now after the summer that we've had, as parts of Australia are burning and other parts are under water, the idea of using public money to underwrite coal-fired power stations is reprehensible.'
His comments come in the wake of the announcement that Glencore, the largest coal miner in Australia, is scaling back its coal operation and will cap its global coal production.
(File pictured) Mr Bandt made the controversial comments in spite of the coal industry boosting Australia's economy by $25billion last year
Mr Bandt's (pictured) comments come in the wake of the announcement that Glencore, the largest coal miner in Australia, has decided to scale back their coal operation
The move came after the company came under pressure from shareholders to work towards more renewable technologies and minerals.
The company had operations across Australia, including north Queensland, the Northern Territory and some areas in New South Wales.
Energy heavyweight Adani has also scaled back the size of its Carmichael mine operation, in Central Queensland.
Mr Bandt's anti-coal position reflected that of Labor MP Richard Marles, who recently spoke out to say the collapse of the thermal coal industry would be 'a good thing'.
(File picture)Labor MP Richard Marles has also spoken out to say the collapse of the thermal coal mine would be 'a good thing'
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