Radio broadcaster Alan Jones, usually more friend than foe of the Abbott government, is the face of a new campaign against a proposal to strip the rights of environment and community groups to challenge big developments in court. Conservative radio host Alan Jones, not holding back. The intervention comes as the mining industry launched its own advertising campaign praising coal as a source of power, economic growth and jobs. The Abbott government announced last month it would try to repeal a section of Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act that grants a right of legal appeal to third parties. The move came after the Federal Court set aside the environmental approval for Indian company Adani's Carmichael coal mine in Queensland after the Mackay Conservation Group used a legal challenge to expose a flaw in the government's assessment of that project.

The changes, if passed, will mean only people directly affected by a development can challenge it in court. In the TV advertisement for anti-mining group Lock the Gate Alliance, Jones says "the latest move by the Abbott government puts at risk not just our environment but our very democracy". "It is quite simply unbelievable." The clip first appeared on YouTube on Friday with a caption calling for donations to get the ad on air. It screened on Sky News on Monday and will air throughout the parliamentary sitting week, paid for by a crowdfunding campaign.

The latest move by the Abbott government puts at risk not just our environment but our very democracy "We think there's a lot of interest in this and it's not just from environmentalists but from a wide sweep of the community," Lock the Gate's national co-ordinator Phil Laird said. "We think that stripping the rights of communities to object to dangerous coal and gas mining by changing legal rights if not the way to go when it comes to any kind of environmental management. "This is about nationally significant areas such as the Great Barrier Reef and the Liverpool Plains." Since the government launched its attack on what it has dubbed environmental "lawfare", green groups and crossbench MPs have raised fears about what it could mean for Australians concerned about the environmental impact of projects such as the Galilee Basin mines and Shenhua's Watermark coal mine in the Liverpool Plains.

While Jones might seem an unlikely recruit to the campaign, it is not the first time he has taken on a government over mining approvals. He was a vocal opponent of the Newman government during the Queensland election campaign, attacking it for mining approvals in that state, including the agricultural region of the Darling Downs. Jones's opposition comes as the Minerals Council of Australia launched its own advertising campaign "Little Black Rock" which hails the "endless possibilities of coal". "It can create light and jobs, delivering $6 billion in wages for Australians," a voice over says. "Isn't it amazing what this little black rock can do."

The advertising campaign will also run in newspapers and on radio. Follow us on Twitter