Recent Updates

The Federal election has been called for 3 May 2025. For updates, check our Federal Election page and Budget blog

• NOPSEMA has given final approval for Santos’s Barossa project (see Climate Change)
• The Federal and NSW governments are considering an avoided deforestation carbon credit methodology, championed by Dr Ken Henry (see Forests)
• Climate Integrity has filed a complaint with the ACCC, alleging that gas claims made by Australians for Natural Gas in a series of ads and social media posts are misleading
• The NSW government has approved a plan for BHP’s Mount Arthur thermal coal mine to close by 2030, with plans for a clean energy transition to hydro-electricity
• The ECNT has launched legal action challenging the NT government’s 10-year water allocation plans for the Mataranka and Western Davenport catchments, which allowed significant increases in allocations to pastoral properties (see Inland Waters)
  Members interested in water justice issues across northern Australia can contact Jess Feehely about joining the Rivers of the North funder group.
• Scientific organisations around the world (including the CSIRO) are bracing for the impact of US funding cuts to the NOAA and NASA, which produce much of the data relied on for global climate science
• The NSW government has passed the Product Lifecycle Responsibility Bill 2025, establishing a mandatory stewardship scheme that requires battery manufacturers to take responsibility for safety and recycling of their products
• Two campaign organisations – Mums for Nuclear and Australians for Natural Gas – are under scrutiny for electoral spending declarations and association with industry groups. Australians for Prosperity has also removed social media posts after being questioned by the AEC (see Disinformation).
• Footage has shown ongoing logging within areas earmarked for the Great Koala National Park in NSW
• DCCEEW has released the first National Renewable Energy Priority List, identifying 56 projects across the country, including transmission and generation and storage projects (see Climate Change)
• The NT government has introduced a Bill to amend the Sacred Sites Act (see Indigenous Land and Sea Management). The Bill has been criticised by the Northern Land Council for ignoring traditional owners and prioritising development over cultural heritage
• Labor and the Coalition collaborated in the final parliamentary sitting to rush through legislation to protect salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour and limit third party rights to request reconsideration of decisions (see Oceans & Coasts and EPBC Reforms).
  Catch up on our member briefing on what has been learned from the failed EPBC reform campaign and how to pressure any new parliament into action
• The High Court made a landmark judgement in Commonwealth vs Yunupingu, finding the Gumatj Clan of the Yolngu People in North-East Arnhem Land was eligible for compensation from the Commonwealth for land acquired for bauxite mining in the Gove Peninsula
• The NT government has abandoned 50% renewable targets, and passed laws allowing the Territory Coordinator to override consultation and environmental assessment processes for ‘economically significant projects’ and to reduce merits review rights under mining, planning, and water laws. The laws follow recent cuts to funding for the ECNT and ALEC (organisations who have used merits review to challenge approval decisions)
• The Federal government has announced $250M towards conservation of more than 30 million hectares of land. Conservation organisations have previously estimated that around $5B/yr is needed to achieve Australia’s 30×30 targets (see Land & Biodiversity).
• A US court has ordered Greenpeace to pay over $US660M to Energy Transfer for damages and defamatory statements relating to protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline nearly ten years ago. Greenpeace will appeal against the decision, and has condemned the impact on the right to protest.
  Find out more about this case and its implications, and what’s being done to address the risk of SLAPP litigation in Australia at our member briefings in Sydney and Melbourne
• A decision on whether to approve the Northwest Shelf expansion under the EPBC Act has been further delayed, with a decision now due by 30 May 2025
• The government has announced plans to develop a National Food Strategy if re-elected, but has not detailed how the strategy will address sustainability, biodiversity impacts, supply chain monopolies, or climate resilience (watch our sustainable food systems webinar from 31 March 2025)
• The Climate Change Authority has released a new report, Assessing the impact of a nuclear pathway on Australia’s emissions, showing nuclear policies could increase emissions by 2 billion tonnes by 2050 (see Climate Change)