Thursday, June 6, 2013

Chief Justice reserves decision in gas hub case - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Chief Justice reserves decision in gas hub case - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The Chief Justice has reserved his decision in the Wilderness Society's case against the approval of the James Price Point gas hub, north of Broome.
The Wilderness Society and Goolarabooloo man Richard Hunter had taken legal action against the project before Woodside announced that it would not proceed with the hub.
They have been contesting the validity of the EPA's recommendation for approval in light of the conflicts of interest of some board members.
They also said the EPA's chairman Paul Vogel should not have made the decision alone and the authority should have considered other sites.
As the state was putting its case, the Chief Justice Wayne Martin said, "If I decide the assessment was undertaken over four years, your case has significant problems."
He referred to the assessment process and said questions were decided by people who should not have been voting.
But, Rob Mitchell SC for the state, said the EPA chairman's final assessment fit the statutory requirement, good or bad.
The Chief Justice said he would publish his reasons as soon as he could.

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