Adani mining company facing income crash – desperate to get Australian tax-payer funding
IEEFA’s Tim Buckley told Four Corners a potential $1.5bn loss on any decision to walk away from the mine proposal explained why the Adani Group remained focused on securing Australian taxpayer support through a Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility loan
Adani needs Carmichael mine to stave off income crash, report says
The Indian mining giant faces plummeting revenue and risks losing the Abbot Point coal terminal, while new questions have arisen about its ownership structure, Guardian, Joshua Robertson, 3 Oct 17, Adani’s ambitions face a grave new risk in Australia, where its grip on its only operating asset, a Queensland coal port, is threatened by a crash in income unless its contentious Carmichael mine becomes a reality, a new report says.
Adani must refinance more than $2bn in debt on the Abbot Point coal terminal – more than it paid for the port in 2011 – despite earning $1.2bn in revenue and paying virtually no tax in Australia since, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
And Adani must gain fresh lender backing at a time when the port faces plummeting revenue that only its $5bn mine proposal, itself yet to secure finance, can make up for, the analysis says.
IEEFA’s analysis was included in an ABC Four Corners program on Adani on Monday that also featured a former Indian environment minister saying he was “appalled” by Australia’s approval of the mine.
Jairam Ramesh told the program Adani’s environmental history in India “leaves a lot to be desired” and questioned whether the Australian and Queensland governments had properly considered this or its financial conduct, including allegations of large-scale fraud.
The IEEFA report found new links between Adani’s Australian corporate structures and a Caribbean tax haven, the port in particular having a “complex and opaque ownership structure [that] appears well-suited to minimising tax”.
It was previously thought that local companies relating to Abbot Point and a proposed rail link with the Carmichael mine – for which Adani is seeking a concessional loan of up to $900m from Australian taxpayers – were owned by an Adani family company in the Cayman Islands, Atulya Resources Limited.
But Singapore corporate filings show Atulya is owned by another Adani family company in the British Virgin Islands, ARFT Holding Ltd.
And two trusts related to the Carmichael rail project are potentially held by another BVI-registered company called Carmichael Rail Australia Ltd, according to the IEEFA analysis. One of the trusts holds a $2/tonne royalty deed that would net the Adani family income from the Carmichael mine, which is expected to yield up to 60m tonnes a year.
Contracts that force Abbot Point’s coalmining customers to pay for using the port’s full capacity have begun to expire, with the port actually running at just over half its capacity as the bullish predictions of a coal boom gave way to a downturn.
To refinance the port, Adani needed to “convince financiers that [Abbot Point] will be fully utilised into the future” with its own Carmichael mine the only candidate to pick up this looming shortfall of about 25 million tonnes a year, IEEFA said.
The port thus ran “the risk of becoming a stranded asset” if the Carmichael mine, itself a $5bn greenfield project that represented a “high-risk gamble”, did not secure financial backing overseas, it said.
IEEFA’s Tim Buckley told Four Corners a potential $1.5bn loss on any decision to walk away from the mine proposal explained why the Adani Group remained focused on securing Australian taxpayer support through a Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility loan……. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/oct/03/adani-needs-carmichael-mine-to-stave-off-income-crash-report-says
Adani’s tax havens – the Queensland coal mine plan’s connection with corruption
Adani Australia: Investigation uncovers tax haven ties to British Virgin Islands, Four Corners ,By Stephen Long, Wayne Harley and Mary Fallon , ABC News, 3 Oct 17 An investigation by the ABC’s Four Corners program has uncovered previously unknown tax haven ties for Adani Group’s Australian operations, with key assets ultimately owned in the British Virgin Islands.
Key points:
- Adani Group’s filings with ASIC fail to mention a company registered in the British Virgin Islands
- Vinod Adani, older brother of Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, has been under investigation in India
- Vinod Adani also a substantial shareholder in Adani Enterprises Limited
Adani Group has promised a $22 billion windfall in taxes and mining royalty payments for Australia over the life of the giant Carmichael coal mine it has been given approval to build in outback Queensland.
But experts say an opaque web of companies and trusts behind its Australian assets gives it ample opportunity to minimise the tax it pays.
Adani Group’s assets in Australia include the Abbot Point Coal Terminal near Mackay in Queensland, a terminal expansion project it has approval to undertake at Abbot Point, and a planned railway line of nearly 400 kilometres from the port to the giant mine it wants to build in the Galilee Basin — aided by a subsidised loan of up to a $1 billion it is seeking from the Federal Government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.
It was previously thought that Atulya Resources, a Cayman Islands domiciled company controlled by members of the Adani family, was the ultimate holding company for Abbot Point, the expansion project, and the railway.
However, filings in Singapore by privately-owned Adani companies show that a company registered in another notorious tax haven, the British Virgin Islands, sits behind Atulya Resources.
Vinod Adani investigated over alleged scam
It is variously described in the offshore company filings as ARFT Holding Limited, AFRT Holding Limited and Atulya Resources Family Trust.
Adani Group’s filings with Australia’s corporate watchdog, ASIC, fail to mention this company, instead continuing to list Atulya Resources as the owner.
The British Virgin Islands’ company’s apparent position at the apex of the structure is disclosed in the financial reports of a series of Adani companies controlled by Vinod Adani, also known as Vinod Shantilal Adani or Vinod Shah.
Vinod Adani, the older brother of Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, has been under investigation in India over an alleged scam designed to shift money offshore…….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-02/adanis-tax-haven-ties-to-british-virgin-islands-revealed/9007714
Minerals Council of Australia – a wealthy lobby on behalf of foreign corporations
- Major members of the MCA are majority foreign-owned (BHP and Rio 70 per cent plus) and Glencore and Peabody owned in Switzerland and the US respectively. Therefore this is an organisation which effectively represents overseas interests.
The Minerals Council, coal and the half a billion spent by the resources lobby by Michael West | Oct 2, 2017 There is no peak body in the country which conducts its business as belligerently, and its proponents would say as successfully, as the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA).
Flush with funding thanks to the contributions of its multinational mining company members such as BHP, Rio and Swiss-owned coal giant Glencore, the miners’ peak body can raise a campaign warchest at a moment’s notice. And it is uncompromising, often venomous, in its rhetoric.
In 2010, the MCA managed to oust a sitting prime minister, Kevin Rudd, from office with a $22 million advertising blitz against the mining tax.
Earlier this year in the Western Australian state elections, the leader of the National Party, Brendon Grylls, lost his seat after the mining lobby campaigned against his proposal for higher taxes on iron ore producers.
Meanwhile, Rio Tinto booked a net profit of $6 billion profit for 2016, while BHP handed down a first-half profit of $4.2 billion.
An investigation of the financial statements of the MCA shows the not-for-profit association has booked revenues of more than $200 million over the past 11 years. Revenues peaked at $35 million, $32 million and $37 million in 2010, 2011 and 2012 when the group was busy fighting the mining tax, the carbon tax and the Renewable Energy Target.
This is but a fraction of the story however. Continue reading
Extreme heat days to come, for Australia’s cities
Sydney and Melbourne should prepare for 50-degree days, climate researchers warn, Climate scientists from two leading Australian universities say more extreme heatwaves are inevitable even if global CO2 targets are met. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/10/04/sydney-and-melbourne-should-prepare-50-degree-days-climate-researchers-warn By James Elton-Pym
Queensland council saves $1.9m in grid costs from single Tesla Powerpack
A Queensland local government council has installed what is believed to be Australia’s first off-grid solar and battery storage system to use a Tesla Powerpack, to maintain local drinking water quality around the clock.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/queensland-council-saves-1-9m-grid-costs-single-tesla-powerpack-90623/
Market Forces list COMPANIES THAT COULD MAKE OR BREAK THE ADANI CARMICHAEL COAL PROJECT
THE ADANI LIST: COMPANIES THAT COULD MAKE OR BREAK THE CARMICHAEL COAL PROJECT Adani’s plans to dig up hundreds of millions of tonnes of dirty Galilee Basin coal are gargantuan, requiring input from a range of project partners. And every company that helps this nightmare become a reality would be partly responsible for the environmental and climate devastation the Carmichael project stands to inflict.
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4 October REneweconomy news
RenewEconomy-
He may already had one, but prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has just been given a blueprint by the Trump administration on how to protect dirty “baseload” coal, and extend his fight against the energy future.
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Australia’s New Energy Solar completes US$62.5 million private placement.New Energy Solar Fund and New Energy Solar Limited are pleased to announce the financial close of an issue of US$62.5 million of senior secured 24-year amortising notes in the US private placement market.
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Tesla post record deliveries, but Model 3 production not yet jumpingQ3 was Tesla’s best quarter ever for deliveries but Model 3 deliveries were lower than anticipated, due to production restraints.
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CEFC provides $98.5m debt finance to Victoria solar farmCEFC to provide all debt finance for Victoria’s largest solar farm to “accelerate” project.
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Know your NEM: Gas deal underlines attraction of renewablesOrigin gas deal underlines one of the main advantages of renewables: they provide security against rising fossil fuel prices.Graph of the Day: How wind energy trumped Liddell in SeptemberAustralia wind farms enjoy record output in September, with average capacity factor of 49.5% – significantly more than the Liddell coal generator.Brisbane Airport to be world leader for biojet fuelBrisbane is set to become one of a handful of hubs around the world for sustainable aviation fuel.Tech Mahindra and Power Ledger unite to unleash the power of MaaSTechnology trials in Microgrid-as-a-Service aimed to impact the urban population in India.
Could Australia be the target of a North Korean missile?
Leonid Petrov, a leading North Korean expert, said Australia could play a much better and more viable option in the crisis.
Dr Petrov, a visiting fellow at the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University, 
said it was obvious someone who served as US deputy assistant secretary of defence for nuclear and missile defence policy would recommend buying a US-made piece of equipment.
However, Dr Petrov said there was a cheaper option on the table.
“Australia can save a lot of money (and lives) by using its diplomatic channels and mediate a comprehensive peace deal, which North Korea is begging for since 1974,” he said.
North Korea missile crisis: Could Australia be targeted by Kim Jong-un? A PENTAGON adviser has warned Australia could be on the receiving end of Kim’s fury as experts say anything could happen.news.com.au Debra Killalea@DebKillalea 2 Oct 17
IT WAS a stunning warning that made Australia sit up and take notice.
Former Pentagon official Dr Brad Roberts said Australia needed to develop greater missile defences in the event of a North Korea missile strike.
Dr Roberts, who served as US deputy assistant secretary of defence for nuclear and missile defence policy between 2009 and 2013, also warned Australia had no say in Kim Jong-un’s decisions.
“Unfortunately, Australia doesn’t really get to choose whether or not North Korea threatens it — it’s the choice that the North Korean leader,” he told the ABC.
“His objective is to make us fearful so that our leaders will not stand up to his threats and coercion.”
But just how much of a target is Australia, and are we likely to feel the wrath of Kim?
CAN A NORTH KOREAN MISSILE HIT AUSTRALIA?
Experts warn anything is possible and hope this scenario remains an unlikely possibility. Continue reading
Australia should not blindly follow USA on foreign policy – Gareth Evans
I never had any doubt about the genuineness of Hawke’s position when he said at the time that “we are not an aligned country which had to agree, or did agree, with every single aspect of US policymaking.
The ability to maintain a healthy balance in our alliance relationship seems, unhappily, to have largely evaporated since the Hawke-Keating years.
Gushing sentiment has become the norm..
The election of President Donald Trump has given a new urgency to restoring some real balance in the alliance relationship. We can only hope that enough cooler and wiser heads than his own will emerge to eventually dispel the worst fears generated during his campaign and in his first weeks in office.
We now have to be ready for American blunders as bad as, or worse than, in the past. We will have to make our own judgments about how to react to events, based on our own national interests.
Australian foreign and defence policy for the foreseeable future is going to have to be founded on three core principles: More self-reliance. More Asia. Less United States.
Trump era: Australia should rely less on the US, GARETH EVANS, The Australian,
Australia’s alliance with the United States was not undervalued by the Hawke-Keating governments. But nor did we overvalue it, and we certainly did not accept that its care and maintenance demanded obeisance to all Washington’s whims and wishes.
Then, as today, there could be little doubt that the ANZUS alliance contributes hugely to our military capability, above all in the access it gives us to American intelligence and weapons systems. As self-reliant as we may be, we are by no means completely self-sufficient, certainly when it comes to really major threat contingencies. It has been credibly estimated that without the alliance, Australia would have to triple or quadruple its defence spending, at a budgetary cost of an additional $70 billion to $100bn a year. There is, moreover, the deterrent value against potential aggressors that a close alliance with a global superpower, on the face of it, seems clearly to provide.
But the issue of deterrent value needs closer scrutiny than it usually gets. The ANZUS Treaty formally provides only that each party “will consult together whenever in the opinion of any of them the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened in the Pacific” (Article III) and that in the event of an “armed attack in the Pacific Area on any of the Parties” each “would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes” (Article IV). That is in significant contrast to the language of Article 5 of the NATO treaty, whereby “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all” and commit to applying armed force as necessary in response. Continue reading
Professor Brian Cox – subtle spinner for nuclear power, will tour Australia in November
Brian Cox is a very personable and knowledgeable TV star and particle physics expert. He is also a promoter of the nuclear industry. He is a big fan of plutonium -powered space travel.
Currently, Cox is in Cumbria, UK, addressing schoolchildren groups, and revving up enthusiasm for science and technology. All good, yes. He enthuses about the opportunity for top jobs in high tech in Cumbria. Good? Yes, but – where are these future jobs? Well – in the nuclear industry, which is desperately trying to get a new nuclear power station built.
Whitehaven News 29th Sept 2017, Television star Professor Brian Cox says Cumbria has a world-leading industry which warrants talent – but there’s a shortage of scientists and engineers. But he hopes to change that by helping to bring the prestigious Infinity Festival to the area and inspiring hundreds of teenagers to follow their dreams. Professor Cox was the star speaker at today’s festival which was held at West Lakes Academy in Egremont. More than 200 schoolchildren, aged 13 and 14, attended the event from schools across the whole of the county. http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/Professor-Brian-Cox-visits-Egremont-and-declares-Cumbria-is-a-world-leading-high-tech-industry-941aa057-9b77-46a5-8eac-6e92f0341783-ds
The scientist, Professor Brian Cox, has told guests at the opening of a new exhibition in Whitehaven that nuclear power should be an important source of energy in the UK.
Famous scientist argues for ‘stable’ forms of energy, The famous scientist Professor Brian Cox has told guests at the opening of a new exhibition in Whitehaven that nuclear power should be an important source of energy in the UK.
He argues that education is important for accepting nuclear energy: http://www.itv.com/news/border/story/2014-05-30/professor-brian-cox-opens-beacon-museum/
Australia’s farmers need action on climate change, and for renewable energy
Our farmers must rally for climate change action, http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/4958579/our-farmers-must-rally-for-climate-change-action/ With no clear action on climate or energy policies, Australian farmers are scratching their heads and wondering how they can drive change.
The Federal Government is failing to help. They are talking about extending the life of old, polluting coal-fired power stations; more subsidies and taxpayer assistance to the fossil fuel industry; and pressuring states to frack more gas – an industry that directly competes for prime agricultural land.
They can’t be thinking of our interests. Farmers are the ones already impacted by climate change – look no further than heatwaves and severe rain shortages in parts of the country. We are also dealing with soaring energy costs.
As individuals we can get drowned out, but collectively our voice carries weight. If our views are to be heard, however, we must start talking to elected representatives before it’s too late.
Farmers are looking to renewables and storage to cut their energy costs. If you think that should be encouraged, then speak out. Farmers directly benefit from large-scale renewable projects. Wind turbines alone generate approximately $20 million worth of passive income for us.
Agriculture is one of the most climate-exposed industries in the country. If you think farmers should be supported to cope with what’s happening now, and steps taken to avoid worse impacts into the future – then speak out!
The future of farming won’t be assured without a fight. Add your voice. Verity Morgan-Schmidt is CEO of Farmers for Climate Action
Digging into Adani: The dubious dealings of India’s corporate colossus.
28 Sept 17, ‘When Four Corners travelled to India to investigate the activities of the giant Adani group, they soon discovered the power of the company.
‘While attempting to film and gather information about Adani’s operations, the Four Corners team had their cameras shut down, their footage deleted and were questioned for hours by police.
‘The team were left in no doubt that their investigations into the Indian company triggered the police action.
‘For months, Four Corners has been digging into the business practices of the Adani Group.
This is the corporate colossus that plans to build Australia’s biggest mine site. … ‘
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/digging-into-adani/8997202
Adani Carmichael coal mine: Former Indian minister sounds alarm on Adani’s track record, mega-mine’s viability
~ Four Corners www.abc.net.au/4corners/ By Stephen Long, Wayne Harley and Mary Fallon www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-02/former-minister-sounds-alarm-on-adanis-track-record-in-india/9005596
‘India’s former environment minister Jairam Ramesh is “absolutely appalled”
by the Australian Government’s approval of the Adani Group’s massive coal mine in North Queensland,
which he says will threaten the survival of the Great Barrier Reef, “a common heritage of mankind”.
‘Mr Ramesh, an elder statesman of India’s opposition Congress Party,
also said the Federal Government and Queensland Government have failed to do adequate due diligence
on Adani Group’s environmental and financial conduct in India before granting environmental approvals and mining licenses. …
‘”You’re giving a tax break to a project that is actually going to have adverse environmental consequences, which will have multiplying effects on weather patterns in the region, across the world. I find it bizarre,” he said. …
Adani coal ‘will be too expensive for Indian market’
‘Australian politicians have argued India needs the coal from Adani’s Carmichael mine
in North Queensland to lift millions of India’s poor out of “energy poverty”.
‘But another respected Indian observer, the former head of India’s Ministry of Power, E.A.S Sarma, dismissed that as false and misguided. …
‘”We cannot afford that, it is so expensive. My assessment is it will not be possible for the Indian market
to absorb Adani coal.” … ‘
Nuclear connections in Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
Dan Monceaux, Nuclear Fuel Cycle Watch South Australia shared a link. September 29
There are quite a few Fellows of ATSE with direct associations with uranium mining or nuclear fuel cycle projects. They include:
– Paul Heithersay (Olympic Dam task force, SA Gov)
– Malcolm Kinnaird (Olympic Dam task force, SA Gov)
– Ian Gould (Rio Tinto/Toro Energy)
– Vanessa Guthrie (Toro Energy)
– Hugh Morgan (WMC/Olympic Dam)
– David Klingberg (Nat. Radioactive Waste project)
– Marius Kloppers (BHP during ODX)
– Adi Paterson (ANSTO)
– Arvi Parbo (WMC/Olympic Dam)
– Erica Smyth (Toro Energy)
– Ziggy Switkowski (author of UMPNER Review circa 2006)
2 October REneweconomy news
RenewEconomy-
Tesla opens first Adelaide storeTesla is bringing scalable energy products and services including the award-winning Powerwall to customers with the opening of its first store in Adelaide at Westfield Marion.
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How lakes can generate electricityScientists develop new ways to harness energy from evaporation.
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A year since the SA blackout, who’s winning the high-wattage power play?It’s a year to the day since the entire state of South Australia was plunged into darkness. And what a year it’s been, for energy policy geeks and political tragics alike.
1 This month
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/235274195556
19 May – Webinar- Webinar: No Nuclear Weapons in Australia
Start: 2026-05-19 18:00:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
End: 2026-05-19 19:30:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
20 May – Webinar – The dangerous world of AUKUS, US, military occupation and suppression of dissent
National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST. Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
Speakers: Former Sen. Rex Patrick, Lawyer Nick Hanna ,Arthur Rorris ,Jorgen Doyle, Sen David Shoebbridge,
Facilitator Kelley Tranter.
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 