Queensland’s Greens Senator Larissa Waters has criticised the claim made by the Federal Energy Minister John Frydenberg, who called the approval of the AU$16.5 billion Queensland coal mine project of Indian company Adani a “strong moral case.”

“Claiming there’s a moral case for coal exports confirms yet again how out of touch the Coalition is with the rest of the world,” Waters was quoted by the AAP as saying. “Four out of five people without electricity in India are not connected to an electricity grid, so can’t access coal-fired power. Building electricity grids is slow and expensive and the much cheaper, healthiest solution is localised renewable energy.”

Last week, the federal government re-approved the AU$16.5 billion for Adani Carmichael project in central Queensland, which is believed to be the largest coalmine of Australia, with respect to certain strict conditions. The decision came following the original approval made two months ago due to environmental threats the project could pose.

The energy minister called the approval a “strong moral case” that would foster the living conditions in the developing countries around the globe. “I think there’s a strong moral case here – I’ve just been at the G20 and at the APEC energy ministers’ meeting and they pointed out that over a billion people around the world don’t have access to electricity,” he told ABC’s Insider program on Sunday.

Also, the minister said that lack of electricity forced more than two billions of people use wood and ,dung for cooking, which led to 4.3 million premature deaths, according to the World Health Organisation.

The government’s decision has been criticised by the traditional owners of the Queensland Galilee Basin, the Wangan and Jagalingou people, who said that they would fight for their rights until the coal mine project is culminated, W and J leader and Traditional Owners Council spokesman Adrian Burragubba said.

The group has rejected deals with Adani twice earlier and has taken legal action against the Indian mining giant to stop proceedings of the project in Queensland. The case would be heard on Nov. 23 and 24.

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