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Landmark legal challenge against Clive Palmer’s Galilee Coal Project commences
A group of young Queenslanders and rural landholders have made their first appearance in Queensland’s Land Court, as their landmark legal case against Clive Palmer’s Galilee Coal Project begins.
Tony Zhang
This case is the first time a coal mine has been challenged on human rights grounds in Australia, and the first climate change case by young people in Australia.
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“Today is a step forward in our fight to protect our human rights from the worsening impacts of climate change,” Youth Verdict co-founder Mel McAuliffe said.
Youth Verdict, a coalition of diverse young Queenslanders, will argue the Galilee Coal Project would cause a breach of their human rights by fuelling dangerous climate change that puts their futures, their lives, and their cultures at risk.
Youth Verdict is represented by the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO).
Principal solicitor at EDO Sean Ryan said that this is a significant case because it is the first time in Australia that seeks to challenge a coal mine on human rights grounds.
“Our clients represent local landholders and their supporters standing [shoulder to shoulder] with young people standing up for their human rights,” Mr Ryan said.
“This is an important first step in this landmark case, and the first day in court for our clients as they challenge Clive Palmer’s Galilee Coal Project.
“Our clients are among dozens of parties objecting to the Galilee Coal Project. Today’s hearing will set the timetable for how those objections will proceed.”
They join The Bimblebox Alliance Inc., a group of landholders and conservationists who first objected to the mine in December 2019, arguing the mine would destroy the pristine woodland of the Bimblebox Nature Refuge and its inhabitants, and be lost for future generations.
“The Bimblebox Alliance has objected to this coal mine because it will destroy a protected area – the Bimblebox Nature Refuge. Today’s hearing marks 12 years since Waratah Coal first applied to develop this mine,” said Sheena Gillman spokesperson for The Bimblebox Alliance.
Ms Gillman said that the Bimblebox Nature Refuge is a sanctuary to thousands of animals and is home to the iconic Rufus Betong.
“The [300-year-old] trees, heathland and wetlands that make up Bimblebox can not be offset or replaced. Bimblebox is largely uncleared and in its natural state, it is a hotspot of biodiversity and must be protected,” she said.
Waratah Coal applied for a mining lease for its Galilee Coal Project in 2011.
The project consists of two open-cut and four underground mining operations, coal-handling preparation plants and a rail network to a proposed port facility at Abbot Point.
The application was referred to the court under the Mineral Resources Act 1989 after objections to the mining lease and the related environmental authority were received.
There are 32 objectors, 25 of which oppose both the mining lease and the environmental authority applications.
The last hearing set down the ground rules for the fight, which will return to court in August for Waratah to challenge some of the objections.
The actual hearing for the case has been tentatively set down for five weeks in May next year.
Traditional owners, anthropologists, ecologists, economists, hydrogeologists and climate change experts are expected to give evidence.
