Federal Court dismisses lawyers’ challenge to pulp mill

The Wilderness Society Inc
Media Release
9 April 2009

Late on Easter Thursday (9 April 2009), Justice Tracey dismissed Lawyers for Forests application to overturn the Federal government approval of Gunns’ pulp mill. The decision is disappointing, but not unsurprising as it further highlights the fundamental flaws in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) - Australia’s primary environment legislation.

The legal challenge brought by the Victorian based group, Lawyers for Forests, was not about whether the then Environment Minister, Malcolm Turnbull’s was right to approve the mill (such challenges are not allowed under the EPBC). The LFF challenge was based on a range of technical issues. Most crucial was the question of whether the Minister had enough information about the environmental impacts of the mill when he made his decision. The facts were clear – the Minister did not have enough information because he ordered more testing, but the Federal Court decided that the law does not require the Minister to know all the environmental impacts. Apparently our national environment law allows a Minister to approve projects without full knowledge of their impacts.

This is particularly worrying, and yet another reason why we need to reform the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

• View The Wilderness Society’s submission to the current Federal government review of the Act, here >>
  

There is still a legal hurdle for the pulp mill with a case brought by local landowners and Environment Tasmania in relation to the Tasmanian government’s bizarre approval for the mill, but with this loss in the Federal Court, community opposition to the mill is now more important than ever.

Community action is needed to tell the government, the super funds and investors who are backing this environmentally damaging project, that this pulp mill is still unacceptable – even if our environment laws are currently weak.