ENVIRONMENT | TheBrief

environmental, land, climate

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the wilderness society is not an endangered species

Australia’s federal environmental law requires active measures to prevent the decline and extinction of listed threatened species. Central to that framework is the obligation to prepare and implement recovery plans under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth). Recovery plans are intended to identify threats to species survival and set out legally operative actions for their protection and recovery. Background Between 2013 and the early 2020s,

By THE BRIEF EDITORIAL

deemed refusal to decide neutral bay woolies

Across Sydney’s Lower North Shore, a long‑standing local community with a well‑established neighbourhood character has found itself at odds with a large corporate landholder seeking to transform a familiar supermarket site into a major mixed‑use node. The unfolding dispute at 1–7 Rangers Road and 50 Yeo Street in Neutral Bay highlights how local opposition to large‑scale redevelopment intersects with the legal architecture of New South Wales planning law, particularly the way

By THE BRIEF EDITORIAL

living wonders extends with minister's legal definition

In a significant environmental law proceeding, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia dismissed appeals brought by the Environment Council of Central Queensland (ECoCeQ) challenging decisions of the Commonwealth Environment Minister to approve two coal-related projects: approvals relating to Whitehaven Coal’s Narrabri development and MACH Energy’s Mount Pleasant Optimisation Project. Background The appeals, publicly referred to as the Living Wonders cases, sought to

By CJ DORE

Scarborough gas & Rising tide share a structural constraint

Between 2022 and 2025, two legally distinct matters unfolded in Australia that tested how existing law accommodates climate impacts and climate-motivated participation. One arose within federal environmental approval processes. The other arose from state-based administrative and criminal regulation of protest activity. Although they engaged different courts, statutes and remedies, both matters encountered the same underlying difficulty: the law was being asked to address clim

By THE BRIEF EDITORIAL

Scarborough gas & Rising tide share a structural constraint

A green victory in the hunter

The New South Wales Court of Appeal decision in Denman Aberdeen Muswellbrook Scone Healthy Environment Group Inc v MACH Energy Australia Pty Ltd (NSWCA, 2025) is frequently described as a climate change case. In substance, however, it is a case about statutory obligation and evaluative discipline in planning law. The Court did not determine whether coal mining should proceed, whether climate change warrants refusal of development, or whether Scope 3 emissions must always be d

By THE BRIEF EDITORIAL

Royalty Disputes Referred to Arbitration Under the IAA

This proceeding concerned whether disputes relating to royalty calculations, specifically depreciation and decommissioning (D&D) costs, arising under a long-standing royalty arrangement for hydrocarbons extracted from Bass Strait were required to be resolved through arbitration, rather than by a court. Oil Basins Limited (OBL) holds a 2.5 per cent overriding royalty on hydrocarbon production within a defined Bass Strait area. The royalty is governed by a Royalty Agreement exe

By THE BRIEF EDITORIAL

Parents for Climate v Energy Australia

Australian consumer law has long recognised that trust in markets depends on clarity. In financial services, investors are entitled to understand what sits behind claims of ethical or sustainable investing. A product may be marketed as “green” or “ethical”, but if the underlying conduct does not align with the impression conveyed, consumer law is engaged. A similar principle is now emerging in climate-related marketing. Where companies invite consumers to rely on environmenta

By THE BRIEF EDITORIAL