The Federal Court has found that the decision to allow Port Melville on the Tiwi Islands to operate as a marine supply base should NOT have gone ahead without an environmental assessment.
Earlier this year our friends at the Environment Centre NT took the case to the Federal Court, and on Friday the Court overturned the Federal Government's decision, showing it was ‘invalid and unlawful’*.
The new Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg will now be required to reconsider the matter and make a new decision on whether the development can or cannot proceed without an environmental impact assessment.
This is great news for the Tiwi Islands and its marine life, but also to ensure correct environment assessment processes are followed in the NT.
In July this year, a searing report, ‘Health Check of Our Top End Coasts’, prepared for the Keep Top End Coasts Healthy alliance, warned that the push to develop the north threatens the Top End's coastal waters with disaster unless environmental laws are tightened. You can read the report here [LINK}.
We urgently need a plan to keep our Top End coasts healthy – a message that NT politicians heard loud and clear this election thanks to your support. We’ll be in touch with next steps soon.
* EDO’s Dave Morris quoted in this ABC Article - Click Here
Read the ABC Online Article "Government concedes decision that approved Port Melville on Tiwi Islands was wrong" - Click Here
Read the Guardian Online Article "Josh Frydenberg to work with Port Melville operators over struck-down approval" - Click Here
Read the Guardian Online Article "Approval of Port Melville supply base near Darwin quashed by federal court" - Click Here
Read the full Health Check Report - Click Here