Activists ask consumer watchdog to investigate Acland mine ad campaign

Lock the Gate and Oakey Coal Action Alliance say New Hope Group ad featuring logos of 40 other companies breaches consumer law

Opponents of a Queensland coal project have asked the consumer watchdog to investigate whether an embattled miner and up to 40 other companies broke the law with a "misleading" appeal for public support.

New Hope Group, whose New Acland project could become the first coal proposal in Queensland history to be refused mining licences, last week ran an advertising campaign claiming "thousands of jobs" would be lost unless the state government approved its expansion.