In a pivotal second for local weather justice in Australia, the nation’s highest court docket has dominated towards proposals to broaden a large coal mine in New South Wales.
In what was billed a “David versus Goliath” case, retired lecturers Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan (pictured) launched a authorized problem towards the venture after state planners gave it the go-ahead in 2022.
The pair argued that plans to increase the lifetime of Mount Nice coal mine by 22 years, and double its output, flew within the face of nationwide efforts to chop emissions. The New South Wales’ Courtroom of Attraction agreed in 2025, declaring the venture’s preliminary approval illegal. It stated that planners had not thought of the downstream local weather impression burning the coal would have of their evaluation.
MACH Power, which runs the mine, subsequently took the case to Australia’s Excessive Courtroom. However on Wednesday, the court docket struck down its enchantment – a judgement that units a authorized precedent for fossil gasoline approvals throughout Australia.
“Right now the Excessive Courtroom stated what we now have at all times recognized: we can’t dig up coal, ship it abroad, watch it drive local weather change, after which faux the implications don’t have anything to do with us, and received’t be felt by us,” stated Wales. MACH Power stated it accepted the ruling.
Picture: Environmental Justice Australia
