The model, who is famous for showcasing women’s underwear, accused Adani of having a “dirty track record” in an Instagram posting.

“I woke up this morning to find out that our environmental minister and the Abbott government have approved what will be the biggest mine of Australia,” she said.

“Carmichael mine will cover an area seven times that of Sydney Harbour. The only way to get coal out of Carmichael mine is via the Great Barrier Reef.

Millions of tonnes of seabed will have to be dredged and dumped in the World Heritage Area to make way for port expansions to service this mega-mine.

“Minister [Greg] Hunt knew the company behind the mine, Adani, had a dirty track record. In India, Adani has been investigated and fined for illegally building on villagers’ land and destroying protected mangrove areas.”

Lawley went on to say the mine was 28,000ha in size would occupy more than 20,000ha of native bushland, create four times the fossil fuel emissions of New Zealand and consume 12 billion litres of water a year over the coal mine’s 90 years of life.

Australia should join countries like Germany and introduce more renewable energy, she said.

“Coal is soon going to be a dead commodity only bought buy irresponsible countries which do not care about climate change and the damage on the world,” she said.

“I’m shocked and feel powerless so I decided to get people to read this one way or another. We have to stop them … before it’s too late.”

Australian Greens Senator Larissa Waters added her voice on social media, saying: “History will look back on the Abbott government’s decision today as an act of climate criminality.

“The Carmichael coal mine is set become one of the world’s largest coal mines, producing 60 million tonnes of thermal coal every year for sixty years to dramatically increase Australia’s contribution to global warming.

“The proponent, Indian-owned Adani, is in financial dire straits and has already faced complaints about breaches of environmental laws in its home country.

“There’s no guarantee Adani will be able to pay for the environmental conditions attached to the approval and with the Abbott and Newman governments slashing environment department staff, there’s no capacity to enforce them.”