PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian Coal Association (ACA) on Wednesday warned that environmental activist group Greenpeace could negatively affect the Australian economy, after six members of Greenpeace boarded a moving coal ship bound for South Korea in the inner Great Barrier Reef.

The six activists, who boarded the coal hauler from inflatable boats, delivered an anticoal message to the ship’s captain and crew.

Greenpeace said in a statement on Wednesday that it was stepping up its campaign to stop the coal industry from expanding, stating that plans were under way to roughly double the volume of coal exported.

“Right now there is no political solution to this problem because all the major political parties have committed to doubling and trebling our coal exports. So, in the absence of any action being taken by our political leaders, Greenpeace is calling on all Australians to join it in physically preventing the expansion of coal, through peaceful civil disobedience,” the environmental group said.

ACA CEO Nikki Williams called Wednesday’s stunt “irresponsible” and “dangerous”, warning that this type of behavior could cause an accident on the Great Barrier Reef.

“This is an ideologically driven campaign to stop economic development that will devastate communities across Australia,” Williams said.

The association on Wednesday released a report from RMIT University, which found that the coal supply sector made up some 3.1% of the gross value added in 2011/12, accounting for around A$43-billion.

The broader coal economy, which included both supply- and demand-side considerations, made up 4.2% of the gross value added, worth an estimated A$60-billion.

The report noted that, over the past 30 years, coal had been one of Australia’s major export industries and, moreover, for most of that period, was the major export industry. The commodity represented the main export earner for both Queensland and New South Wales.

“It is a reality that coal for power generation and steel manufacturing has built our modern Australia and is now helping other countries to improve the quality of life of their people by reducing energy poverty,” said Williams.

“This indisputable fact is not widely understood. The long-term outlook for coal remains strong. We need to ensure that our sector remains internationally competitive to ensure that Australia benefits from the sustainable development of its coal resources.”

Williams called on Australia’s political leaders to condemn interference with revenue generating business and employment.

“Australia must be, and needs to be seen to be, a stable and reliable producer in the world markets,” she added.