Two hundred people came from as far away as Gympie, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba to join a Thursday morning protest outside Queensland parliament. The protest was against the proposed Adani coal mine in the Galilee basin.
People dressed in white to symbolise the coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. It was pointed out that the very same day - May 18 - that it was revealed the Palaszczuk government was planning a $320 million royalty holiday for Adani, senate estimates heard that coral bleaching had resulted in 49% of the corals dying over the last two years.
This government hand out to a billionaire comes on top of other exceptional support given by the Queensland government, including free (and unlimited) water permits.
Adani responded by trying to press for an ever better deal when they postponed making an investment decision on May 23.
Since then some opposition to the Adani mine from within the ALP has been voiced publicly and Queensland deputy premier Jackie Trad has come out saying that a "royalty holiday" is off the table.
Such a holiday would violate pre-election promises by the Palaszczuk team that no taxpayer funds would be used to support the mine. A key campaign point at the rally was the fact that this applies not only to Queensland government funds but federal taxpayer funds as well. The Queensland government has the power to veto the proposed $1 billion federal loan to Adani and the rallygoers were urged to contact politicians to ensure the Queensland government rejects the loan.
Petitions with 115 000 signatures were handed over to the parliament after a five minute standoff when parliamentary staff refused to allow entry to people dressed as Nemo and Dora.
The rally was organised by the Australian Marine Conservation Society and supported by 350 Brisbane, GetUp, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition among others.
[More photos can be viewed on the Green Left Facebook Page.]