Australian coal is cleaner than that of other countries. The government in Canberra has been saying this for a long time. Now a parliamentarian raises serious allegations. Laboratory results are said to have been falsified.
Australian mining companies are said to have doctored quality certificates and paid bribes.
On the side of Minerals Council of Australia are the unctuous words: “Reduce emissions with Australian coal.” Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison once brought a lump of coal into Parliament to proudly advertise Australia’s “black gold”. And the incumbent head of government, Anthony Albanese, who has committed the country to significantly more ambitious emission targets, likes to praise Australia’s “quality coal”. The latter fits the narrative of the domestic coal industry, which argues that global greenhouse gas emissions would increase if foreign customers had to source coal from another country. Finally, Australia’s coal exports are of higher quality and produce fewer emissions.