Media releases
If you have a media enquiry, please call or email Kathryn Lewis on (03) 8341 3110 or [email protected]
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Call for Victoria’s climate laws to be fixed following Supreme Court decision
Environment groups have called for Victoria’s climate change and pollution laws to be fixed after a court found the EPA’s decision not to limit greenhouse gas emissions, or set proper restrictions on toxic pollution from power stations, was legally valid. Independent...
Delta Coal fails to paint a true picture of Chain Valley mine proposal risks, expert says
A geotechnical engineer and mining expert says Delta Coal’s proposal to prolong the operations at its Lake Macquarie mines has failed to provide the community with a true picture of the risks it poses to the environment. Delta Coal proposes to dig up an additional 9.5...
Environment Council taking legal action on Glencore’s Valeria mine proposal welcome potential withdrawal
A Central Queensland environment council running a legal intervention seeking the climate impacts of major coal and gas proposals be assessed says Glencore’s flagged withdrawal of its proposed Valeria mine is a signal to all fossil fuel operators. The Environment...
Government’s environmental law reform must deliver binding protections or risks missing critical window
Environmental lawyers say national environmental law reform must deliver stronger binding protections for nature and explicitly require thorough climate impact assessment, in the face of escalating climate and extinction crises. Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek...
Alinta Energy handed licence to increase harmful toxic pollution
Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority has quietly handed Alinta Energy a licence to pump out even more toxic pollution from its Loy Yang B power station. “Loy Yang B has been permitted to pump even more toxic sulfur dioxide into the air and add to its already...
Lawyers, community call for government scrutiny of Delta Coal’s proposed Lake Macquarie mine expansion
Lake Macquarie locals and environmental lawyers say Delta Coal’s proposal to prolong the operation of its Lake Macquarie coal mines, must face thorough government scrutiny. If approved, Delta Coal will dig up to 9.5 million more tonnes of coal from beneath Lake...
Latrobe Valley, with massively polluted air from coal-burning power stations, ignored in government’s clean air plan
The Latrobe Valley, home to Victoria’s three massively polluting coal-burning power stations, has been completely shut out of the state government’s new plan to provide “clean air for all”. The Victorian government has just released its Air Quality Strategy which...
Woodside, Whitehaven plans among 18 major coal, gas proposals Federal Environment Minister will reassess for climate harm
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek will reassess 18 major coal and gas proposals, including Woodside’s North West Shelf and Whitehaven's Narrabri mine, in a major step for a landmark legal intervention. The Environment Council of Central Queensland,...
Delta Electricity to clean-up its act as EPA scraps unlawful pollution exemption
In a massive win for community health, the NSW Environment Protection Authority has been forced to walk back its unlawful decision allowing Delta Electricity to emit toxic pollution above the legal limit, giving Delta just two years to clean up its act. “The EPA has...
Statement in response to Victorian government’s 95% renewable energy target by 2035
Environmental Justice Australia Principal Lawyer Hollie Kerwin said: "The Victorian government’s new target of 95 per cent renewable energy by 2035 and emissions reduction target of 75 to 80 per cent is huge,” "This will change the lives of people across the...
EPA failing to protect Victorians from climate pollution – landmark case commences today
Environment Victoria launched a landmark legal action last year against the Victorian Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and three energy companies for failing to limit pollution from coal-burning power stations - the case will commence today in the Victorian...
Victoria’s new mine rehab regulations a win for community, but there’s more work to do
In response to the Victorian Declared Mine Regulations 2022, which came into force on September 30, Environmental Justice Australia lawyer Chloe Badcock said: "The Latrobe Valley community that has powered Victoria for decades must have a say as coal-fired power...
Victoria has a responsibility to set a national precedent in the shift from coal
In response to agl's 2035 closure of Loy Yang A, Environmental Justice Australia lawyer Chloe Badcock said: “Today, AGL has announced its coal-fired power station, Loy Yang A, will close a decade sooner than planned, in 2035. “As power stations retire across the...
New report reveals Engie’s Hazelwood mine rehab plan will release toxic coal ash pollution
New reports reveal Engie’s Hazelwood mine rehabilitation proposal would release toxic coal ash pollution harming community health and the environment. Experts in the field also found new alternatives including filling the mine void with solid material was viable and...
Environment Council’s legal intervention calls on Tanya Plibersek to assess climate impacts of Mt Pleasant mine
The Environment Council of Central Queensland (ECoCeQ) is calling on Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to consider, for the first time, the climate impacts of fossil fuel extraction when assessing a coal mine proposal in the NSW Hunter Valley. ECoCeQ,...
Victorian government’s 10-year water plan fails to address climate driven water crisis
The Victorian government has taken some incremental, but insufficient, steps to turn around the looming water crisis in southern Victoria, the Concerned Waterways Alliance says. The Central and Gippsland Region Sustainable Water Strategy (SWS), released on Monday,...
Draft mine regulations have significant flaws that will let mining operators run the show and lock out community
Environment groups and the Latrobe Valley community are deeply concerned by significant flaws in proposed mine rehabilitation rules just released by the Victorian government. Draft regulations to amend the existing Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) (Mineral...
Environmental, legal and social justice organisations dismayed by harsh new laws against forest protectors
Environmental, legal and social justice organisations dismayed by harsh new laws against forest protectors The Andrews government has steam-rolled dangerous changes to the Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004 which could see peaceful protesters fined up to $21,000,...