Australia on Tuesday approved a controversial coal port expansion plan to support projects, like Indian mining giant Adani’s $6.5 billion Carmichael mine, despite warnings from environmetalists that it will damage the fragile Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef system. The Abbot Point port involves dredging 1.1 million cubic metres of spoil near the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which will then be disposed off on land rather than at sea. The approval lists a number of strict conditions that the project must fulfil before going ahead, including how and where the sediment can be moved. The decision comes two months after the Government approved Adani's plan to build one of the world's biggest mines. “The approval is a big boost for Indian firms Adani, GVK, which have ambitions to build coal mines in Queensland's Galilee Basin and export via the expanded Abbot Point,” Brisbane Times commented.