Two women lock on to stop work at Townsville company

18 Sep 2019 | Media release

27/08/2019

Two Queensland women have locked themselves to the gates of Adani contractor, Iplex, on Ingham Road in Townsville this morning. The two women locked on, Jo Bulmer and Wendy Tubman, along with 25 climate change campaigners, are demanding that Iplex withdraw the tender it has submitted to supply pipes to Adani’s Carmichael coal project.

Iplex is a wholly owned division of Fletcher Building, Australia’s largest building materials supplier and is currently in the tender process for various pipelines in the Carmichael project, including pipes for dewatering.

In June this year the federal government was forced to reopen its assessment of Adani’s north Galilee water scheme on grounds that the department hadn’t properly considered public responses.

“Queensland farmers are already feeling the pain of a long drought and water insecurity and the Carmichael mine will suck up 12.5 Billion litres from Suttor river and Burdekin basin each year placing further pressure on precious water resources,” said Townsville resident Nicola Borellini.

“The Adani brand is toxic, this is a company with zero social license and not a company that any business should want to be associated with. Iplex involvement with the Carmichael project will not only damage Queensland’s water and climate, it will damage the reputation of Iplex and Fletcher Building who need to clearly rule out working with Adani,” said Wendy Tubman, Stop Adani campaigner from Magnetic Island.

“The majority of Queensland residents do not support Adani. Iplex and Fletcher Building should respect the views of Queenslanders who don’t want this water and climate wrecking project to go ahead and clearly rule out involvement with the project.”

“Iplex should prioritise our water security, which is under direct threat from Adani’s mine. Queenslanders are desperate for water; you can see the concern etched on everybody’s faces here. Companies like Iplex should know that if they do business with Adani and actively compromise farmers that they will risk their reputation and become a focus of peaceful protest.”