The future health of Gippsland Lakes, an internationally recognised Ramsar wetland, lies firmly in the hands of the Victorian and Commonwealth governments, writes senior EJA lawyer Ellen Maybery. As a Party to the Ramsar Convention, Australia has a responsibility to...
On behalf of our client, the courageous Environment Council of Central Queensland, we’ve just commenced a landmark legal intervention. Our client has just asked Australia’s new Environment Minister to reconsider nearly all new coal and gas proposals currently awaiting...
By Jocelyn McGarity, Clean Air LawyerIt’s been a busy few months fighting for clean air to protect community health across NSW and I want to share an update on some of the crucial moments EJA has been involved in lately. We scrutinised the National Pollutant...
The NSW EPA is accepting submissions now on a proposed law which will determine clean air regulations for big polluters in the years ahead. Air pollution is a serious issue in NSW that causes hundreds of avoidable deaths and cases of childhood asthma every year. Yet...
The National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) is Australia's annual report on toxic pollution. Their latest data (2020-21) has just been released, and our team has analysed the trends. Notably, our analysis shows AGL’s power stations across NSW and Victoria reported...
Two coal-fired power stations owned by AGL, Bayswater and Loy Yang A, have announced that they are closing early, but only by two and three years (in 2033 and 2045) respectively. These announcements are a disappointing outcome for the health of communities living...
After months of public hearings and on-the-ground campaigning, the Minister for Planning has assessed the environmental effects of the Fingerboards mineral sands mine as unacceptable. This means that the 1,675-hectare open cut mine is now unlikely to proceed, which...
Two weeks ago, Victoria’s Energy Minister stood in front of TV cameras and declared a state-wide ‘energy emergency’. Recent heavy storms had pelted the Latrobe Valley and we were told floodwaters could cause the walls of the Morwell River Diversion, that runs through...
More than four years after the Minister for Planning first required an Environment Effects Statement (EES) be prepared for the Fingerboards mineral sands mine proposed in East Gippsland, Victoria, the public hearings to consider the proposal are about to commence. An...
In April 2021, state and federal environment ministers finally met to revise Australia’s outdated national air pollution standards. The decision, delayed two years, comes after a lengthy ten-year process including a review of air pollution standards, a proposal for a...
This week, the Minister for Planning rejected AGL’s proposed Crib Point gas import terminal, saying it would result in “unacceptable environmental effects” to the internationally significant Westernport Bay. This is a huge win for the community who have been...
On March 11, EJA was in court on behalf of the Australian Conservation Foundation seeking the release of documents, which recorded meetings between the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and the Walker Group. The Walker Group sought to build a...
In November 2016, a developer purchased a block of land in Chelsea and lodged an application to clear all native vegetation for fourteen two-storey townhouses. After a four-year effort by the Friends of Dents Paddock alliance the native coastal vegetation land was...
Environmental Justice Australia is both honoured and saddened to be the beneficiary of the winding up of the Western Region Environment Centre (WREC). Losing this institution is a sad day for environment protection in Melbourne’s west. We have worked with WREC for...
Health experts, campaigners and community members gathered on the steps of Parliament to deliver a copy of The People’s Clean Air Action Plan to Vic Health Minister Martin Foley. We heard from a range of speakers, including: A/Prof Lou Irving, who spoke about the...
Between the results of the Victorian EPA’s power station licence review, the announcement of Yallourn’s early closure, and the call for submissions to the health impacts of air pollution inquiry, a lot has been going on in the VIC coal pollution space. Here’s the low...
After five years in the making, the NSW government has released a draft Clean Air Strategy that fails to do anything to reduce pollution. Instead of providing a strategy with firm commitments and measurable deadlines to protect the community from toxic air...
The NSW Public Works Committee released its report and recommendations to conclude its Inquiry into Costs for Remediation of Sites Containing Coal ash Repositories. The need for such an Inquiry was recommended by EJA in our report Unearthing Australia’s Toxic Coal Ash...