Case Studies

The following case studies are featured on this site involving environmental litigation in Australian courts and tribunals.

These case studies form the basis of the course materials for Environmental Litigation (LAWS8187), a postgraduate law course offered by the Australian Centre for Environmental Law (ACEL) at the Australian National University (ANU) College of Law in Canberra.

High Court of Australia

  • The Tasmanian Dam Case is the most famous and influential environmental law case in Australian history. In it, the Commonwealth Government succeeded in stopping a large hydro-electric dam proposed to be constructed in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

Federal Court of Australia

  • The Flying Fox Case involved an application for an injunction to restrain the killing of thousands of flying foxes. The case was heard in the Federal Court in 2000-2001 and was the first test of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) ("EPBC Act ").
  • The Nathan Dam Case involved a judicial review application and an appeal against a decision involving a proposed large dam in central Queensland. The case was heard in the Federal Court. It was a major test case for environmental impact assessment under the EPBC Act and established that direct and indirect impacts of an action are relevant when assessing the impacts of actions under the Act.
  • The Greentree Case involved an important trial and appeal in the Federal Court of Australia to restrain farmers in northern NSW from contravening the EPBC Act by clearing and ploughing 100 ha of a Ramsar Wetland in preparation for planting a wheat crop.
  • The Japanese Whaling Case involved an application for a declaration and an injunction in the Federal Court under the EPBC Act to restrain Japanese whaling in the Australian Whale Sanctuary adjacent to Antarctica.
  • The Wildlife Whitsunday Case involved a judicial review application in the Federal Court against decisions under the EPBC Act involving the greenhouse gas emissions from two large coal mines in Queensland.
  • The Anvil Hill Case involved a judicial review application in the Federal Court against a decision under the EPBC Act concerning greenhouse gas emissions from a large coal mine in New South Wales, known as the Anvil Hill Project.
  • The Paradise Dam Case involved an application in the Federal Court for a declaration and an injunction to restrain an alleged breach of a condition of approval under the EPBC Act for a large dam in Queensland.
  • The Lamattina Case involved a civil prosecution in the Federal Court of a South Australian farmer for clearing 170 eucalyptus trees, thereby causing a significant impact on a threatened species contrary to section 18 of the EPBC Act.
  • The Volga Cases involved two related proceedings concerning the arrest of the Russian-flagged longline fishing vessel, Volga, which was apprehended by the Australian Navy for illegally fishing for Patagonian Toothfish in the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ) adjacent to Heard and McDonald Islands, remote and uninhabited islands 4000 km southwest of Perth.

Queensland Planning and Environment Court

  • The Pelican Links Cases involved a series of cases in the Planning and Environment Court, Magistrates Court, District Court and Court of Appeal involving pre-emptive clearing and a planning appeal for a large residential development near Caloundra in South-East Queensland.
  • The Tornabene appeal is a case study of a routine and typical development application and subsequent appeal under Queensland's planning laws.
  • The Cassowary Case involved an appeal in the Planning and Environment Court under the Integrated Planning Act 1997 (Qld) concerning the impacts of a proposed rural residential subdivision on cassowary habitat.
  • The Donnybrook Sand Mine Case involved an appeal in the Planning and Environment Court about a large sand mine adjacent to a Ramsar Wetland.
  • The Frippery Case involved an application under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Qld) to restrain the electrocution of flying-foxes. Two trials were heard in the Planning and Environment Court and two appeals were made to the Queensland Court of Appeal.
  • The Yardley Case involved another application under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Qld) in the Planning and Environment Court to restrain the electrocution of flying-foxes.
  • The Plumb's Chambers Case involved an appeal in the Planning and Environment Court against demolition of two cultural heritage listed buildings at Warwick.

Queensland Land and Resources Tribunal

  • The Newlands Coal Mine Case involved an objection in the Queensland Land and Resources Tribunal (LRT) against the greenhouse gas emissions from the mining, transport and use of coal from the expansion of a large open cut coal mine in Queensland.
  • The Sonoma Coal Mine Case involved an objection in the LRT against the greenhoues emissions from the mining, transport and use of coal from a large open cut coal mine in Queensland.

Land Court of Queensland

  • The Khyber Case involved an appeal to the Land Court of Queensland by a landholder against refusal of a tree clearing permit under the Land Act 1994 (Qld) for a pastoral property known as "Khyber". Applications for broadscale clearing such as involved in this appeal are no longer possible due to the phase-out of broadscale land clearing in Queensland in 2006. This case study is provided to explain and illustrate the operation of the concepts involved in Queensland's vegetation management system in practice.
  • The Wandoan Coal Mine Case involved an objection to a major new open-cut coal mine proposed to operate for 30 years in Queensland and produce 1.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases.

District Court of Queensland

  • R v Dempsey involved an application for leave to appeal to the Queensland Court of Appeal against a sentence imposed by the District Court of Queensland for illegal logging in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The decision in the appeal stated important principles for sentencing of serious environmental crimes done for commercial gain.
  • R v Boyle involved a prosecution and sentencing of a serious environmental crime in the District Court of Queensland. The facts involved clearing of a large swath of a national park by a grazier to allow ease of movement of his cattle between paddocks.

Magistrates Court of Queensland

NSW Land and Environment Court

  • The Hudson Case involved a criminal prosecution in the NSW Land and Environment Court for illegal clearing of native vegetation on a grazing property known as "Yarrol" near Moree. The accused, Mr Hudson was convicted and fined $408,000, plus costs.

NSW Local Court

  • EPA v Feodoroff involved a summary criminal prosecution and sentencing for a relatively minor environmental offence in the NSW Local Court at Ballina. The case also involved a dispute on costs.

Victorian Supreme Court

  • Brown Mountain Logging Case involved a proceeding in the Victorian Supreme Court to restrain logging at Brown Mountain in East Gippsland.

Victorian Civil & Administrative Tribunal

  • The Hazelwood Power Station Case involved a judicial review proceeding in the Victorian Civil & Administrative Tribunal challenging the failure to consider greenhouse gas emissions when approving expansion of a coal mine to supply the Hazelwood Power Station. It was one of the first climate change cases in Australia.

International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)

  • The Volga Cases involved two related proceedings, one in the Federal Court of Australia and the other in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The cases concerned the arrest of the Russian-flagged longline fishing vessel, Volga, which was apprehended by the Australian Navy for illegally fishing for Patagonian Toothfish in the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ) adjacent to Heard and McDonald Islands, remote and uninhabited islands 4000 km southwest of Perth.

Links to other case studies

A further, useful case study of the Wielangta Appeal by Senator Bob Brown is available http://www.on-trial.info/. In that case the Federal Court granted an injunction against forestry operations in Tasmania found to be having a significant impact on threatened species in breach of the EPBC Act. The decision was overturned on appeal. As is done on this website, the case study provides relevant court documents, transcripts and the closing submissions of the parties.

 

 

Front page story of the Frippery Case from Townsville Bulletin newspaper on 6 September 2005

 

 

Front page story of Alec Finlayson Case from The Armidale Express, 15 November 1976.