Follow this link to the Federal Court’s website
FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
Your Water Your Say Inc v Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts (No 2) [2008] FCA 900
COSTS – costs order against unsuccessful party in environmental litigation
Continue reading The Decision - 13 June »
FEDERAL COURT COST DECISION:
Just to keep everyone up to date I can advise that the Federal Court Judge this morning found that the Your Water Your Say group IS required to pay the Federal & State Governments court cost. We do not at this stage have any idea as to how much this will be but to some extent it is irrelevant given the little money that we have as an organisation.
Continue reading 13th June - The Federal Court’s Cost Decision »
Please download the Federal Court Decision as a pdf
Your Water Your Say Inc v Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts [2008] FCA 670
Legal update
First of all just to clear up any possible misleading conceptions: The legal avenue was never going to stop the project as a whole; that can only be achieved by making Government choose the best solution for Victoria, based on evidence.
Sadly the federal court action result, announced Friday 16thMay, was not in our favor. At the time of writing, we have not yet decided whether there are adequate grounds to appeal the decision, and we would only contemplate this if we were assured a high chance of success. The aim of the court action was to have the Pilot Plant included as part of the EES process. If we had achieved that result, any work at the site would have been delayed at least 6 months, thus giving us more time to rally Melbourne people to vocally oppose the project and thus force a change in Government policy. Our legal advice was that we had an even chance of success, however as our attempt was unsuccessful, work on the pilot plant will most likely start immediately.
Continue reading 16 May - Court decision »
Court Challenge
The court case was heard in one day at the Federal Court last Tuesday. Michael Morehead put our case in the morning and the government presented its case in the afternoon. The Court has since notified our lawyer that the decision will be handed down on Friday May 16 at 9.00 am.
This court case has highlighted how difficult it is to fight against the government and big business. The Government’s legal team was vast and we had one environmental solicitor and junior solicitor who were working at a third of their normal costs.
We will win or lose depending on whether the judge decides that the pilot plant is a part of the project. The government argued that it was all temporary despite the fact that there will be four permanent drill holes under the sand dunes and that Mr Holding said that it was a vital part of the project.
If we win, it could mean that the government is forced to include the pilot plant in the EES and therefore all work would have to cease at the site. If we lose, the government will be allowed to start work before the environmental effects statement even begins.
John Wright
YOUR WATER YOUR SAY ACTION GROUP INC.
LEGAL ACTION
COURT DATE
TUESDAY 13TH MAY 2008
Your Water Your Say is back in the Federal Court at 10.15am, tomorrow Tuesday May 13, 2008.
From our experience last time we know this is a unique opportunity to engage with the Melbourne media, especially television.
The media has been alerted and they have all shown interest in attending for a media conference at 9.45am, so the more support that can be there the better the news coverage will be that night as we battle to be heard over the Federal budget release.
We think it was such a good idea that we would like as many people as possible to be at the front of the Federal Court between 9.30 AND 9.45AM
We can hopefully reflect the widespread support we have if there is a crowd supporting the case.
If you can make it we would be most grateful.
If you can make it we would be most grateful.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
John Wright
Planning Coordinator
