The recent decision of Justice Bromberg in Sharma v Minister for the Environment [2021] FCA 560 found that a novel duty of care is owed by the Minister for the Environment to Australian children who might suffer potential “catastrophic harm” from the climate change implications of approving the extension to the Vickery coal mine in … Read more

The Commonwealth government has released draft National Environmental Standards (NES) for Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES). Read more

The High Court has upheld an appeal against New Acland Coal’s applications to extend the New Acland open-cut coal mine. The applications must now be determined afresh as a result of apprehended bias in the Land Court of Queensland. Read more

Our prediction: The legal landscape is shifting away from being a roadblock to investment and towards facilitating upward momentum in the development space. Read more

The settlement this week of Mr McVeigh’s proceeding against REST has underlined management of climate risk and TCFD-aligned disclosure as growing issues for institutional investors. Other recent developments include a further post-approval challenge to a coal mine, asserting that new expert evidence regarding climate change impacts on the Great Barrier Reef should be taken into account to revoke the approval decision and prosecution for import of synthetic greenhouse gas where a single offence attracted an agreed penalty of $500,000. Read more

The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal has reaffirmed that prosecutors should not lay a single charge in respect of multiple offences, including environmental offences. Read more

A group of Australian teenagers has filed a class action against the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment, and is seeking an injunction to prevent the Minister approving a proposed coal mine expansion. The claim alleges that approving the mine would breach the Minister’s common law duty of care to young people. The case follows the recent landmark proceedings alleging that the Commonwealth and others failed to properly disclose information about climate change risks to prospective investors in government bonds. We provide a snapshot of the issues and implications of these proceedings. Read more

The Queensland Government has proposed a suite of reforms to the planning framework in order to assist Queensland’s economic recovery from COVID-19. The proposed amendments are not legislative, but rather amendments to regulations and rules made under the Planning Act 2016 (Qld), meaning they can be efficiently implemented. Anyone wishing to make submissions regarding the … Read more