Environment

A judge has approved a $192.5 million settlement in an oil spill class action on behalf of Indonesian seaweed farmers, but the slice for the law firm running the action and its litigation funder remains to be determined amid allegations of negligence by the former lead applicant in the case.

A case brought by a shareholder advocacy group accusing Santos of misleading the market by ‘greenwashing’ its environmental credentials will centre on the meaning of the word ‘clean’, a court has heard.

The High Court has agreed to weigh in on whether Mitsubishi can be sued over allegedly misleading fuel efficiency representations on a label affixed to the windshield of a Triton 4WD that was required by law.

The NSW Independent Planning Commission’s decision to approve an extension for Whitehaven’s Narrabi coal mine was “legally illogical” amid current knowledge of the “extraordinary and deadly” impact of climate change, a court has heard.

The law firm running the Montara oil spill class action, which has settled for $192.5 million, is looking for a new lead applicant after the first one defected over concerns group members would lose half the settlement amount to legal costs and a funding commission.

Asset Energy has won Federal Court review of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s decision not to grant a two-year extension of a controversial offshore exploration license, after the government conceded that Morrison’s decision was “infected by apprehended bias.”

The Victoria Supreme Court has dismissed a bid to quash the Environment Protection Authority’s decision to renew the mining licences of the state’s three remaining coal power stations, in a test case for the state’s Climate Change Act.

Santos has lost its challenge to a judge’s decision to revoke approval for its $4.7 billion offshore gas project because Tiwi Islanders were not properly consulted about the project.

A court has rejected the plans of a Clive Palmer-owned mining company to dig a coalmine in central Queensland, finding the mine would infringe on the human rights of First Nations people and future generations of Queenslanders, and contribute to “foreseeable and preventable life terminating harm”.

PTTEP Australasia has settled a class action over one of Australia’s largest oil spills, more than a year after a judge ruled that the oil exploration company breached its duty of care to 15,000 Indonesian seaweed farmers and damaged their livelihoods.