Doctors for the Environment Australia are assessing its next legal step after a disappointing result.
The Federal Court has upheld the government’s approval of the Scarborough Gas Project’s environment plan, clearing the way for the controversial project to go ahead.
Doctors for the Environment Australia made the application to the court in June, arguing the national offshore gas regulator, NOPSEMA, acted unlawfully in approving Woodside’s environment plan without fully understanding how the project’s impacts would be managed.
DEA also argued NOPSEMA did not properly apply the legal criteria for approvals.
On Friday afternoon, however, Justice Shaun McElwaine dismissed the DEA’s application, saying that, among other failures of argument: “An objective reading of the [environment plan] demonstrates that Woodside approached the acceptable level demonstration by the hypothetical worst-case scenario.”
DEA’s executive director Dr Kate Wylie expressed her disappointment after the decision was announced.
“After today’s decision, it is clear that Australia’s offshore gas regulations are not living up to the broader public interest,” she said.
“Everybody needs a safe climate for their health and wellbeing, so we all have an interest in the effective regulation of industries that are making our climate more dangerous.
“The offshore gas industry in Australia is one of the most significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions, so the Australian community should be able to expect the government to regulate those impacts seriously.
“The government’s decision to approve this environment plan appears to fly in the face of that commonsense expectation.”
Dr Wylie said DEA would review the decision with its lawyers from the Environmental Defenders Office and assess its options.
“DEA’s legal action took place in the broader context of a global climate emergency. This crisis has had profoundly harmful consequences for the health of billions of people around the world, and the impacts are becoming worse,” she said.
“Doctors are responding to emergencies such as heatwaves, floods, bushfires and storms. The toll is not just on physical health—but also on mental health.
“The scientific consensus and the advice of the United Nations is that new fossil fuel projects are incompatible with a safe climate and human health.
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“Sadly, governments around Australia continue to approve coal and gas projects against such advice.
“In these circumstances, the least our governments can do is to ensure such projects are subjected to thorough scrutiny to ensure proposals address climate impacts in a meaningful way.”
DEA chair, Laureate Professor Nicholas Talley said:
“As doctors, caring for the health of our communities is at the heart of what we do. It is incumbent upon us as health professionals to address climate change and highlight the health hazards of our dependency on fossil fuels.”
Dr Wylie thanked DEA’s lawyers, the Environmental Defenders Office, and Senior Counsel Chris Young KC and Counsel Sophie Molyneux for their work on this matter.
