Adani has asked the Federal Court to throw out a legal challenge to its Queensland coal mine unless five traditional owners with little money can stump up more than $160,000.
The mining company applied for a court order to secure potential legal costs if it wins against Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) representatives, who are seeking to overturn a crucial mine site land deal.
Adani wants the W&J mine opponents to be given two weeks to pay $161,000 into the court by cash or Australian bank guarantee, according to the application filed last month.
It proposed that "if the security is not given within 14 days of the court's order, the appeal be dismissed with costs".
Adani's lawyers searched through property databases in every Australian state and territory to check the assets of the five Aboriginal people who are spearheading the appeal.
They found none of them own property.
Lawyer Col Hardie for the W&J challengers told an earlier Federal Court hearing that legal bills were paid by the W&J traditional owners corporation through fundraising appeals to the public.
In documents filed on Wednesday, Adani's lawyers said the challengers "admit they are impecunious".
"Adani is not the cause of the appellants' impecuniosity," the submission said.
But they said the traditional owners corporation had paid 11 invoices totalling $380,064 to its own lawyers between May 2017 and August 2018.
Adani's lawyers said the appellants should not be given any longer and "should have been raising funds" since October 3 — when Adani flagged its application.
The lawyers said Adani's opponents had to date ignored its demands for payment of $637,000 with costs orders now totalling $870,000 from previous Supreme and Federal Court proceedings.
In August, Federal Court judge John Reeves upheld Adani's Indigenous land Use Agreement (ILUA) with the W&J, saying none of the grounds for challenging it had "any merit".
Five W&J representatives who unsuccessfully argued it was a "sham" agreement — Delia Kemppi, Lester Barnard, Linda Bobongie, Adrian Burragubba and Lyndell Turbane — are appealing that ruling before the full bench of the Federal Court.
The court will hear Adani's bid to make its opponents pay security on 18 December.
Last month, Adani announced it would "self-finance" the controversial project and was ready to begin building and operating a scaled-down mine.
But the company needs the ILUA to have the Carmichael mine site title converted to freehold and to carry out major works.
Adani stated in court documents the maximum area it sought for surrender was 2,750 hectares, or "0.00082 of a percentage of the W&J claim area".
Queensland Mines Minister Anthony Lynham said in September that Adani "needs to prove they can reach financial close [certainty] before we finalise processes for this project".
He also said the Government recognised the rights of traditional owners to legally contest the ILUA.
The W&J mine opponents vowed to take their fight to the High Court.
Their solicitor Mr Hardie told the ABC: "My view is that Adani desperately want to have the appeal determined before there's a change in Federal Government".
An Adani spokeswoman said the new appeal involved "the same technical question on meetings between traditional owners that the court previously found to have no merit".
"As these appellants now owe legal costs of more than $600,000 to Adani, we are seeking assurances they can pay our costs if they are again unsuccessful."
