Central Australian Frack Free Alliance v NT Environment Minister

COURT OR TRIBUNAL

Supreme Court of the Northern Territory

DATE FILED (OR FIRST HEARING DATE)

07/02/2023

LITIGATION TYPE

Project Approval - Mitigation

SUBJECT MATTER

Gas and Oil

REVIEW TYPE

Judicial review

SUMMARY

(Extract from Environmental Defenders Office)

The Central Australian Frack Free Alliance (CAFFA) has launched a legal challenge to gas company Tamboran’s approval to drill and frack 12 exploratory wells about 600km south of Darwin. CAFFA will ask the NT Supreme Court to review the decision of NT Environment Minister Lauren Moss last November to approve the project’s Environmental Management Plan (EMP). Through its lawyers, the Environmental Defenders Office, CAFFA will argue the EMP approval was invalid because Minister Moss failed to adequately consider the environmental impacts of the project. In particular, CAFFA will argue the minister should have considered the climate impacts of future gas projects that this exploration will enable.

Finding that first respondent was only required to consider environmental impacts and risks arising from specific exploration activities authorized under exploration permit, not potential future production activities that might occur or not. Finding that EMP adequately addressed greenhouse gas emissions from exploration activities and was not required to examine broader climate change impacts or extrapolate emissions to calculate contribution to global emissions. Finding that first respondent did not misconstrue relevant provisions of (NT) Petroleum (Environment) Regulations 2016 in approving EMP. Application dismissed.

CASE DOCUMENTS

Central Australian Frack Free Alliance v NT Environment Minister
Central Australian Frack Free Alliance Inc v Minister for Environment [2024] NTSC 75