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Labor asked to reassess decisions about coal and gas projects made by previous governments

Labor asked to reassess decisions about coal and gas projects made by previous governments

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As many as 19 big coal and gas proposals in Australia could be forced to be assessed for potential damage to species and environments — through their impacts on climate change — if a new legal application is successful. 

According to one expert, if the application reaches the courts, it may set a precedent, forcing the consideration of climate change in assessments of fossil fuel projects under Australia’s federal environment laws for the first time.

The Environment Council of Central Queensland (ECCQ) has written to federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, formally requesting that she reconsider how 19 coal and gas project approvals are assessed under federal environment law, and to consider the broader effects of climate change and how emissions from these projects could damage environments. 

Represented by lawyers at Environment Justice Australia, the environmental group argues those 19 coal and gas projects are likely to damage 2,121 matters of national environmental significance, including the Great Barrier Reef, koalas and dugongs. 

A coal-fired power plant
The ECCQ argues the coal and gas projects will worsen climate change, impacting thousands of species and environments.(Reuters: Jason Lee)

ECCQ president Christine Carlisle explained what her group was seeking.

“We’re asking the minister to reconsider those assessments in the light of the enormous amount of evidence that we’ve given to her about the impact of climate change on matters that she’s required to consider,” Ms Carlisle said.

The projects subject to the legal requests include Whitehaven’s Narrabri coal mine, Clive Palmer’s Waratah coal mine and Woodside’s North West Shelf Project Extension. 

Some of the decisions — about what sort of impacts the projects were likely to have — were made by ministers or their representatives a decade or more ago.

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