Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) has won a Federal Court order that enables it to challenge NOPSEMA's approval of the Scarborough Gas Project's environment plan (EP).
The court today made a maximum costs order, limiting to $80,000 the amount that NOPSEMA and energy company Woodside could seek in legal costs if DEA's case were unsuccessful.
On April 30, DEA filed proceedings in the Federal Court seeking a judicial review of NOPSEMA's approval of the Scarborough EP. A hearing into the matter is scheduled for July 14 and 15.
DEA Executive Director Kate Wylie said: "We welcome today's decision, which recognises this case addresses important public-interest questions concerning NOPSEMA's decision-making.
"It means the court will now scrutinise NOPSEMA's handling of the Scarborough Gas Project's environment plan and decide whether the regulator's approval of the plan was lawful.
"The Scarborough Gas Project will result in the release of about 878 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere, adding to the immense health burden climate change is already putting on the community.
"Fossil fuels are the primary drivers of climate change, which is recognised by the World Health Organization as the single biggest health threat facing humanity.
"In the context of the climate emergency unfolding before our eyes, governments must ensure fossil fuel project approvals adhere to laws designed to protect the environment and the community.
"Fossil-fuel-induced climate change is already hurting people and making them sick. As clinicians, DEA members are treating the impacts of climate on health in our daily work.
"Our communities are already experiencing multiple health harms from climate change, including the impacts of heat, floods, extreme weather events, rising sea levels, changing patterns of infectious diseases, food and water insecurity, increased cost of living, worsening mental health, loss of infrastructure and reduced capacity to provide health care."
DEA is represented by the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO), the region's leading public-interest environmental law practice.
EDO Managing Lawyer WA Jess Border said: "EDO was pleased to assist DEA with today's successful outcome, and we look forward to representing them in court next month.
"Today's decision ensures our client has access to justice, a core tenet of democracy and the rule of law.
"The courts should not only be accessible to those with deep pockets, but to all Australians. It should always come down to merit, not money."
DEA will contend that NOPSEMA's acceptance of the environment plan was unlawful because certain measures and controls in the plan relating to greenhouse gas emissions were so vague they did not comply with the regulations or meet the criteria that permit NOPSEMA to approve an EP.
DEA will also contend that NOPSEMA could not have been reasonably satisfied that the EP complied with the regulations, and therefore NOPSEMA's decision to accept it was unlawful and should be set aside by the Court.
