Note: This article has been republished from DownToEarth.
The Federal Court of Australia has overturned the approval granted by the Tony Abbott government to the country’s largest proposed coal project, Adani’s Carmichael mine in north Queensland.
In a ruling on August 5, the court stated that the environment ministry headed by Greg Hunt, which granted the approval last year, did not pay heed to conservation advice for two Government of Australia-listed vulnerable species—the Yakka Skink and the Ornamental Snake—found in the area near the proposed project.
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The approval, granted to the mine last year, was challenged by the Mackay Conservation Group, a Queensland-based non-profit. According to a release by EDO-NSW, the environmental legal firm representing Mackay, the conservation advice was approved by Hunt in April 2014, and describes the threats to the survival of these threatened species, which are found only in Queensland.
According to Sue Higginson, principal solicitor for EDO-NSW, the Department of Environment failed to produce the documents related to the conservation measures for these threatened species before the court.
According to Higginson, [envoke_twitter_link]the mine is now without legal authority to commence construction [/envoke_twitter_link]or operate. The final call on the approval of the mine, however, rests with the government.
“It will be up to the minister now to decide whether or not to approve the mine again, taking into account the conservation advice and any other information on the impacts of the project,” Higginson said.
According to her, the minister can approve the mine again by following proper legal procedures.
The Federal Department of Environment, on the other hand, has said that it was just a technical error on the part of the government which led to the Federal Court to set aside the approval. “This is a technical, administrative matter and to remove this doubt, the department has advised that the decision should be reconsidered,” stated the Department in a release. “Without pre-empting a final decision about the project, the department expects that it will take six to eight weeks to prepare its advice and the supporting documentation, and for the minister to reconsider his final decision,” it added.
Adani Group’s Australia office appeared confident that the technical difficulties would be rectified and the ministry would re-consider the mine. “It should be noted the approval did include appropriate conditions to manage the species protection of the Yakka Skink and Ornamental Snake. However, we have been advised that, because certain documents were not presented by the department in finalising the approval, it created a technical legal vulnerability that is better to address now. Adani is confident the conditions imposed on the existing approval are robust and appropriate once the technicality is addressed,” the group said in a statement after the decision.
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