The Denman Aberdeen Muswellbrook Scone Healthy Environment Group (DAMS HEG) defended its NSW Supreme Court win against MACH Energy in the High Court on May 13.
MACH Energy Australia was granted a right to appeal. It wants to extend the Mount Pleasant coal mine in the Upper Hunter Valley by 22 years to 2048.
The NSW Independent Planning Commission approved the expansion as a State Significant Development in 2022.
The expansion would generate an additional 870 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, 98% of which would be “Scope 3” or downstream emissions from burning the coal overseas.
Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan, two returned science teachers from the Hunter Valley, won a landmark case last year in the NSW Court of Appeal when it unanimously dismissed the Mt Pleasant coal mine expansion, which at the time, was the biggest coal mine proposal in NSW.
The NSW Land and Environment Court had initially dismissed the challenge.
The NSW Appeals Court however found that the Independent Planning Commission had failed to take into account the environmental impacts, specifically the impacts of greenhouse gases from exported coal, in its deliberation.
If the NSW Appeals Court decision is upheld, it will set an important national precedent for how fossil fuel projects are assessed.
If MACH Energy’s appeal is upheld, the Mt Pleasant mine will be able to double its production, making it the biggest open-cut coal mine in NSW.
The High Court appeal is focused on interpreting a provision in the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, which requires any evaluation to include the likely environmental impact on “the natural and built environments, and social and economic impacts on the locality”.
Lesley Hughes, professor of biology at Macquarie University and a former federal Climate Commissioner said: “This landmark High Court case is a watershed moment for every Australian currently living through the reality of climate whiplash.
“From families picking through the rubble of catastrophic fires to communities reeling from back-to-back floods, Australians are paying a heavy price for fossil fuel expansion.”
Outside the High Court, Wales, representing DAMS HEG, spoke about the climate impacts of coal mining in the Hunter.
“We’re ordinary people who care about our community, the environment and our region’s future. We never thought we’d end up in the High Court, but we can’t stand by and watch our beautiful valley further vandalised by this coal expansion. Nor can we ignore the wanton disregard of the climate impacts.
“This case is bigger than us. It’s about whether communities have the right to protect themselves from projects that threaten our future.”
Whether the High Court will uphold the NSW Appeal Court decision that the impacts of climate change on the local area must be considered in the assessment of fossil fuel projects remains to be seen.