For weeks, this billboard has towered over the heart of Brisbane.
Just 'give us the nod', and we'll get started tomorrow, Adani promise.
Adani's goal? Intimidate the Queensland Government into rushing approval of their massive water grab. After the Morrison Government fudged the investigation into Adani's illegal water drilling, the State Government's water approval is one of Adani's last hurdles.
It's why Adani is wheeling in heavy earth-moving machinery to the mine site.1 It's why their PR campaign has reached fever pitch.
But we've taken on Adani's PR offensives before – when together we slammed the door on Adani's application for $1 billion of public money. Now we're needed again, to protect our climate, our Reef and our precious groundwater during the grips of a gruelling drought.
Fresh polling in drought-stricken Queensland shows no-one wants Adani's water approval rubber-stamped -- especially key swing-voters.
If we don't combat Adani's message, we risk the Queensland Government handing a coal mine billions of litres of water, at the expense of those who need it most – including farmers.
So we're planning a massive ad campaign to cover every inch of Queensland with news of Adani's threat to our water – starting with a crowdfunded billboard on the same street as Adani's, to directly counter their message.
Can you chip in $12 to get the message of Adani's threat to water in front of every Queensland MP and their constituents?
To launch the ad campaign, we've found a prime billboard site with maximum exposure to Brisbane commuters and passers-by – visible to four lanes of traffic on a major artery into Brisbane's CBD.
But this is an expensive location, and we can't do it without your help. If we raise enough, we'll also:
- Film and produce tailored video ads and target them to key voter segments and politicians across Queensland through a sophisticated digital marketing campaign
- Provide media support for farmers affected by Adani's water grab to get their message out
- Hire a mobile billboard to get the message across at major events where we know the media will be watching
The choice we face is clear. Queensland's precious groundwater can go to the drought-stricken farmers whose crops and cattle are dying before their eyes. Or it can go to a mining company with a mine so dirty they literally have to wash the coal they dig out of the ground before they burn it.
Adani's PR campaign is corporate self-interest at its worst. But our ad campaign will be a voice for Queensland farmers and others directly impacted by Adani's plan to drain billions of litres of groundwater every year.
Many farmers in Queensland are already spending as much as $40,000 a week trucking water from NSW to save their farms during a severe drought across most of the state.2
Farmers' livelihoods are at stake as the drought worsens, yet Adani are making a ruthless grab for billions of litres of Queensland's water to use at their water-guzzling mine every year.
We must ensure that the Queensland Government secures water for our parched landscape, not for a dirty coal mine.
So if we all chip in $12, we can pull off a powerful act of resistance to Adani's Reef-destroying mine and counter their propaganda campaign.
Together we can expose Adani's greed and protect our climate and water.
Thanks for all you make possible,
Sam R and Eli, for the GetUp Team
References:
[1] 'Adani construction imminent as equipment rolls onto site', The Courier Mail, 21 December, 2019.
[2] 'It'll be a dam tough fight', The Courier Mail, 16 January 2019.
