

Several prominent scientists have defended their peers from attacks by the Adanigroup and compliant media outlets, saying the smearing of experts is “morally reprehensible”.

On Friday, Adani launched a pre-emptive attack on the Queensland government and the authors of an independent review, which has not been finalised yet, into the company’s plans to protect the endangered black-throated finch at the Carmichael mine site.

On the same day, the company’s international mining chief, Jeyakumar Janakraj, told SBS Punjabi that the Carmichael mine would be “hugely beneficial” to global climate change.

But as debate on the Adani plan becomes hyperbolic, scientists say attacks on their credibility by vested interests are becoming increasingly common and problematic. In an open letter, signed by several leading researchers, they say “relentless, sustained and defamatory” attacks on scientists undermines the role of science in decision-making.

“The attacks have consisted of unsubstantiated efforts to smear people instead of addressing the substantive issues,” the letter says.

“While the treatment of the scientists involved in the Adani review may seem shocking, it is one of many examples of people with vested interests undermining the role of experts in our discourse and decision making.

“We are seeing a clear erosion of trust in science around the world, driven by those entities who do not want evidence to be assessed, and do not want the frank and fearless advice that scientists will provide given to the people who ultimately make the decision.

“Scientists can provide crucial information, evidence, and analysis to support difficult decisions. It’s true that scientists may bring values to their work, but these include attributes like accuracy, honesty and transparency. Those who question whether scientists are the appropriate people to review the scientific evidence underpinning contested policy decisions may do well to consider who would be better placed to do it and what their motivations for doing it are.”

Adani had previously sought to discredit the scientists leading a review into its black-throated finch management plan, which requires Queensland government approval as an environmental condition of the Carmichael coal mine.

After being shown a draft copy of the review, Adani leaked details to the News Corp newspapers and launched a pre-emptive attempt to diminish the draft findings.

The company said the report “reads like an anti-coal, anti-mining, anti-Adani lobbying brochure”, and contained unspecified errors. In a statement, it repeated its calls for the Queensland government to simply finalise its management plan, about which conservationists and ecologists have serious concerns.

The Queensland deputy premier, Jackie Trad, said the company had the opportunity to provide feedback and participate in the review.

“If they don’t like that process, the alternative is to do what they’re doing and that is to run a political campaign,” Trad told reporters in Townsville on Friday.

Her comments were a rare rebuke from a government that has refrained from responding to increased complaints and pressure by Adani, including an anti-government advertising campaign.

The company’s advertising demands final approvals from the government. Another outstanding plan, for the management of groundwater dependent ecosystems, is understood to require significant additional work.

That plan is also subject to an external review, by scientists from the CSIRO and Geosciences Australia, though the company has not been as openly critical of that process.

The Lock the Gate Alliance coordinator Carmel Flint said Adani’s “tantrum” regarding the finch was a “trojan horse” attack, designed to divert attention from problems with the groundwater plan.

Polling commissioned by Lock the Gate last year showed significant concern among people in regional communities about water security.

“Adani has now submitted 10 versions of the water plan to the state government, however is no closer to locating the source of ancient Great Artesian Basin spring wetlands that may dry up as a result of its planned mine,” Flint said.

“Adani knows how important water and Great Artesian Basin springs are to Australians, which is why it has a fuss about the finch, but has stayed quiet on the failures of its water plan.”

Jo-Anne Bragg, the chief executive and a solicitor at the Environmental Defender’s Office Queensland, said acceptance of the finch management plan was a key condition of Adani’s approval for the Carmichael mine.

“We’ve heard both politicians and Adani constantly emphasise that the project has gone through a detailed assessment and is subject to numerous tough conditions. That’s the basis on which it was approved,” Bragg said.

Adani said in its statement on Friday that it had written to the Queensland government to “once again express our serious concerns” regarding the review process and draft report.

“If the Queensland Government accepts any part of this report, it means their own (department’s) work over the past 18 months is at best, incompetent, and at worst, using purposeful delay tactics to slow down the delivery of the Carmichael Project and the thousands of jobs it will provide in the process.”