Fifteen years ago, on this day, October 12, 2007, Queensland is Queensland, again…
The presiding member handed down his decision on 15 February 2007, dismissing QCC’s objections and recommending the applications for the mines be granted without any conditions sought by QCC or any conditions addressing greenhouse gas emissions. He doubted the fact that anthropogenic greenhouse emissions were contributing to climate change and pose a severe threat to the environment.
(McGrath, 2007: 225)
There was an appeal, President McMurdo, with whom Holms JA and Mackenzie J agreed, found that the fact President Koppenhol relied upon material doubting the existence of anthropogenic climate change, ‘in the circumstances… amounted to a denial of natural justice to QCC.’
The Court of Appeal ordered the decision to be set aside and the matter remitted to the Land Court (which had assumed jurisdiction for mining objections by the time the appeal was decided) to be determined according to law.
Six hours after the Court of Appeal delivered its judgment on 12 October 2007, the Queensland Premier and Minister for Mines announced the Queensland Government would enact special legislation to ‘ensure the coal mine’s future’.
(McGrath, 2007: 226)
Within hours of the Queensland Court of Appeal handing down its decision, the State’s Premier, Anna Bligh, announced her government would legislate in Xstrata’s favour – an announcement all the more striking because Xstrata had just been the beneficiary of similar legislation in the Northern Territory after the Territory Supreme Court upheld a challenge by the Northern Land Council against the Territory government’s approval of an expansion of Xstrata’s McArthur River zinc mine. Despite the prevalence of special legislation in Australia approving major projects without adequate environmental scrutiny or proper public participation, Xstrata set a record in being the beneficiary of two such Acts in five months.
(Bonyhady, 2007: 23)
Government to legislate to ensure coal mine’s future. Media Statement from Premier Anna Bligh and Minister for Mines Geoff Wilson, 12 October 2007.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 383.4ppm. As of 2023 it is 423ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was Queensland governments of any political persuasion have a long and sordid history of siding with developers and the white shoe brigade. Nothing really much changes whoever’s in government. And of course governments are able to use the police forces as attack dogs and the court system as usually their rubber stamp.
What I think we can learn from this
The game is the game and the game is rigged.
What happened next
The Queensland government has kept going into that for big infrastructure projects.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
References
See also Andrew McGahan Last Drinks…