Endangered gliders at contested Gemini coal-mine: federal intervention urged
Three endangered greater gliders have been found at the site of the controversial Gemini coal mine in central Queensland, prompting fresh calls for Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt to intervene and enforce national environmental laws.
The discovery was made by citizen scientists working with the Queensland Conservation Council (QCC), in partnership with Ghungalu Traditional Owners, and is documented in a new threatened species detection report released this week.
The Gemini coal project, owned by Magnetic South, is already under investigation by the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) for allegedly clearing bushland without approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act).
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Despite the department advising in 2022 that the project be referred for assessment under federal law, the company began clearing land, which satellite images show has since expanded to more than 650 hectares of remnant forest.
QCC’s Coal and Gas Campaigner Charlie Cox said the finding of greater gliders—now listed as endangered—proved the mine posed an unacceptable risk to wildlife on Ghungalu country.
“Magnetic South has bulldozed habitat as if the law does not apply to them,” she said. “Greater gliders can’t survive without old trees with large hollows. Minister Watt already has the power to intervene, to stop work at the site, to properly assess this new project, and to hold Magnetic South accountable, but is choosing not to use it.”
Cox accused the minister of proposing reforms to environmental law while ignoring the tools already at his disposal. “If Minister Watt doesn’t have the stomach to use the powers he has under the existing law, how can we trust that the proposed reforms to the EPBC will actually protect the environment and not just favour coal companies and developers?” she said.
The Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) has confirmed the minister has powers under section 70 of the EPBC Act to compel referral of a project for assessment and under section 475 to seek a court injunction to prevent activities likely to harm protected species.
Managing lawyer Andrew Kwan said Watt’s office had yet to exercise either of these powers despite mounting evidence of environmental damage.
Ghungalu Elders who assisted in the survey described deep cultural and emotional connections to the land and its native animals. Pop Steven Kemp said the gliders’ survival was tied to the community’s own cultural survival. “The Greater Glider is one of the most endangered species in Australia. These companies and the Environment Minister aren’t doing anything to protect them—they’re doing absolutely nothing.”
Another Traditional Owner, Suneilia Rebel-Lawson, said seeing the gliders filled her with pride and purpose. “It made me feel grounded to the land, trees and old people. It made me feel empowered and gave me a sense of pride knowing I had a little part in finding a Greater Glider on our Country, where the company said there wasn’t any.”
Palm Tree Yiman-Ghungulu man Luke Lawson added that reconnecting with Country offered health and cultural benefits far beyond what Western society understands. “There are countless health benefits that can come from being on that Country—mentally, physically and spiritually,” he said.
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The Gemini mine sits between Taunton National Park and the Blackdown Tablelands National Park, in one of Queensland’s most biodiverse regions.
The area has been identified by CSIRO researchers as one of the most important corridors for greater gliders in the state, linking national parks and state forests. The project has also been controversial due to the Queensland government’s earlier decision not to require an Environmental Impact Statement and opposition from local graziers.
Magnetic South, owned by Queensland billionaire Sam Chong, has argued that it does not need to refer the Gemini project under the EPBC Act because it is relying on a “particular manner” decision granted to a smaller, earlier project in the same area known as the Dingo West coal mine.
That approval, issued in 2010, allowed the project to proceed without a full environmental assessment provided certain conditions were met.
However, the Gemini mine is nearly twice the size of Dingo West and proposes to extract significantly more coal.
Critically, species such as the koala and greater glider were not listed under the EPBC Act at the time of the original approval, meaning the threats they face were never considered.
QCC argues that the discovery of greater gliders on site should force the federal government to step in immediately. “The new evidence we’ve supplied should compel them to act to uphold the law and stop the destruction of habitat,” Cox said.
“Greater gliders are protected under national law. Any clearing of their habitat without approval carries hefty penalties, including millions of dollars in fines and even imprisonment.”
For now, the clearing continues. The gliders, meanwhile, remain in peril—tiny, wide-eyed survivors clinging to the last of the old trees while the machinery roars beneath them.
Whether Minister Watt will finally act to protect them could be a defining test of Australia’s environmental enforcement in the age of extinction.
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