A judge has made contempt findings against a real estate agent who attached discovered documents to emails that railed against alleged collusion between a local council and the EPA, but stopped short of finding he intimidated witnesses in a spat over a Ballarat development.
The government has tabled a suite of changes to the EPBC Act, including the introduction of a national environment protection agency with the power to make ‘stop work’ orders.
Environment minister Murray Watt has resisted calls to split proposed legislation that would overhaul the country’s environment laws to allow business-friendly parts of the law to move forward first.
The federal government plans to significantly increase penalties for companies that contravene environment laws as it moves forward with a suite of changes described by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young as “not worth the paper they’re printed on”.
Two activist groups have launched fresh action against Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project, after the energy company secured final government approval for an extension to the venture.
A joint venture of AGL Energy and Someva Renewables has been given the government’s go-ahead for a new wind farm in NSW’s Riverina region that is expected to power almost 600,000 homes.
Paper company Opal has sued the Victorian government for $402 million in damages, claiming it was forced to close the Maryvale paper mill after the state government breached an agreement to provide it with a stable supply of wood.
The NSW Land and Environment court has approved developer Central Element’s plans for its $100 million ‘Lamrock Avenue’ luxury residential development in Bondi Beach, following a conciliation conference with the local council.
Santos has failed to convince a judge that it should not provide documents relied on by NOPSEMA to approve the company’s environmental plan for its Reindeer gas field in judicial review proceedings.
The federal government is slashing costs and red tape for offshore wind developers, in a bid to attract investment to the burgeoning industry.