Media releases
If you have a media enquiry, please call or email Kathryn Lewis on (03) 8341 3110 or [email protected]
For general enquiries contact us or call 1300 336 842
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,...
Final court hearing in citizen scientists’ bushfire case against VicForests
Wildlife of the Central Highlands (WOTCH) will return to the Supreme Court tomorrow for the final hearing in the community group’s legal battle to protect forests home to threatened wildlife, from being logged in the wake of the catastrophic Black Summer bushfires. In...
Landmark legal intervention calls on Environment Minister to put climate change on agenda for pending coal, gas proposals
Climate change threatens more than 2100 Matters of National Environmental Significance; Including 17 World Heritage Properties such as Kakadu National Park and the Great Barrier Reef, National Heritage places including the Australian Alps, more than 360 threatened...
Legal, human rights and environment groups call on Victorian government to withdraw draconian anti-protest laws
Today, human rights, environment and legal advocates published an open letter calling for Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to immediately withdraw a proposed law which would punish peaceful protesters. The Sustainable Forests Timber Amendment (Timber Harvesting...
Andrews government must stop pursuit of draconian anti-protest law
Environmental Justice Australia and the Human Rights Law Centre are urging the Andrews government to withdraw a draconian proposed new law that would criminalise peaceful protest. The Sustainable Forests Timber Amendment (Timber Harvesting Safety Zones) Bill 2022 was...
New data reveals some coal-fired power stations have increased toxic pollution despite declining energy generation
Analysis of new data from the National Pollutant Inventory reveals AGL’s power stations across NSW and Victoria reported significant increases in some of the most toxic pollutants while energy generation in several stations dropped. Archaic coal-burning power...
Govt push for ARENA to fund fossil fuel tech faces critical vote amid scrutiny from leading barristers, Liberal Senators concerned about lawfulness
Just a day before the federal budget, the Senate will vote on a second disallowance motion brought by a Liberal-led Senate Committee to block the Coalition’s regulations for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to fund fossil fuel technologies including carbon...
Lawyers warn EPA decision allowing Delta to exceed pollution limits is unlawful
Environmental lawyers have cautioned the NSW EPA that its decision to give Delta Electricity a free pass when it handed the company an exemption from legal air pollution limits in December last year, is unlawful. Environmental Justice Australia lawyers,...
Supreme Court trial begins in case against VicForests
Community group, Wildlife of the Central Highlands, is in the Supreme Court today, fighting to protect forests home to threatened wildlife from being torn down in the wake of the catastrophic Black Summer bushfires. The three-week trial, heard by the Honorable...
Bayswater closure puts health at risk for another decade, must come with transition support, environmental advocates say
The announcement today that AGL has brought forward the closure of its Bayswater power station by two years, to 2033, must come with significant support for workers and a safe rehabilitation plan, environmental lawyers and advocates say. It also means for...
Loy Yang A power station closure leaves another generation at risk of toxic pollution, environmental lawyers say
The announcement today that AGL has brought forward the closure of its Loy Yang A coal-fired power station by three years, to 2045, fails the Latrobe Valley community and will leave another generation susceptible to the serious health effects of toxic pollution,...
Environment groups welcome Minister’s decision for Engie’s Hazelwood Mine rehab plan to undergo environmental assessment
Environmental Justice Australia and Environment Victoria have today welcomed Victorian Planning Minister Richard Wynne’s decision requiring the Hazelwood Mine Rehabilitation Project to undergo the Environmental Effects Statement process. For more than five years, the...
Forestry plan to weaken protections for threatened species, ignores strong legal tools already available
Changes to the Victorian government’s forestry plan indicate weakened protections for threatened wildlife and ignore strong legal tools already available to regulate the industry, environmental lawyers say. The announcement today includes a plan to introduce new...
Community group urge Environment Minister, department for transparency over secret Yallourn closure deal
A Latrobe Valley community group are calling for transparency from the Victorian Environment Minister to release the details of a secret deal struck with Energy Australia to keep its Yallourn power station operating until 2028. Energy Australia announced in...