Legal challenge over refusal to release coal company correspondence with NSW Government
QUESTION marks over the level of scrutiny of coal mining expansion plans lay at the heart of legal action against the NSW State Government.
Environmental group Lock the Gate Alliance launched legal action after the NSW Planning Department twice refused to release correspondence from coal company lawyers.
The department released only two out of a suite of documents used by coal companies to justify the assessment of changes to coal mine developments as "modifications", rather than new developments.
Lock the Gate's argument is that expanding coal mines via modifications means coal mine developers can avoid having their plans determined by the independent decision maker, the Independent Planning Commission.
In November 2024, the Information Commissioner found the department's decision to refuse the information was not justified and recommended that the department make a new decision.
However, that recommendation was ignored. The department has argued the documents were provided in confidence, and that consideration outweighed the public interest in favour of their release.
The matter is now listed before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal for determination, starting with a directions hearing today (June 10).
Lock the Gate's head of research and investigations, Georgina Wood, said the public had a right to know if big coal mine developers were influencing the NSW Minns Government and its Planning Department, leading to coal projects being assessed under a less transparent, less accessible process.
"There are ten coal projects undergoing or awaiting assessment as modifications, and we want to make sure they are subject to the highest level of scrutiny available in NSW," Ms Woods said.
They include the HVO Continuation Project, a Yancoal/Glencore joint venture near Singleton which, if approved, would be the single biggest coal expansion since the Paris Agreement.
Other plans in the wings include the Rix's Creek north Continuation, also near Singleton, and the proposed four-year extension of BHP's Mt Arthur coal mine near Muswellbrook.
The NSW Government must give full consideration to the impacts large coal mine expansions are having on communities, water, farmland, the environment, and climate and let the public participate in decision-making, Ms Woods said.
"The continued expansion of coal mining and its greenhouse gas pollution is endangering the well-being of the public and the economic future of other industries right across NSW," she said.
"These expanded coal mining proposals should not be snuck through the system without scrutiny and public debate about who is paying the cost for the coal mining industry pollution."
The Alliance will be represented by the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) a leading public interest environmental law service.
EDO managing lawyer Rana Koroglu said the alliance was simply taking this action to uphold community rights to access information held by their governments.
"Public access to information and transparency of government decision making are cornerstones of our democracy. Public participation is built into the NSW Planning Act," Ms Koroglu said.
"The weaker assessment of coal mine developments as modifications rather than new developments has serious implications for public participation. Any such decision requires close scrutiny.
"Our client is taking this matter to the NCAT to ensure that decision-making is transparent and that public authorities can be held to account for their actions.
"Our client rejects the Planning Department's assertion that information shared by coal mining companies with the regulator is subject to professional legal privilege and therefore exempt under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.
"Our client considers that it is in the public interest for this information to be released. That is why our client has decided to take the matter to the NCAT for a determination."
Lock the Gate analysis of coal mine expansion plans reveals that only four of the nine being treated as modification plans provide estimated greenhouse gas emissions figures, and they come to 324 million tonnes of C02-e emissions.
That is equal to two and a half times the volume of emissions produced in NSW in 2019, from just four coal mines that are not subject to independent scrutiny, Lock the Gate says.
QUESTION marks over the level of scrutiny of coal mining expansion plans lay at the heart of legal action against the NSW State Government.
Environmental group Lock the Gate Alliance launched legal action after the NSW Planning Department twice refused to release correspondence from coal company lawyers.
The department released only two out of a suite of documents used by coal companies to justify the assessment of changes to coal mine developments as "modifications", rather than new developments.
Lock the Gate's argument is that expanding coal mines via modifications means coal mine developers can avoid having their plans determined by the independent decision maker, the Independent Planning Commission.
In November 2024, the Information Commissioner found the department's decision to refuse the information was not justified and recommended that the department make a new decision.
However, that recommendation was ignored. The department has argued the documents were provided in confidence, and that consideration outweighed the public interest in favour of their release.
The matter is now listed before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal for determination, starting with a directions hearing today (June 10).
Lock the Gate's head of research and investigations, Georgina Wood, said the public had a right to know if big coal mine developers were influencing the NSW Minns Government and its Planning Department, leading to coal projects being assessed under a less transparent, less accessible process.
"There are ten coal projects undergoing or awaiting assessment as modifications, and we want to make sure they are subject to the highest level of scrutiny available in NSW," Ms Woods said.
They include the HVO Continuation Project, a Yancoal/Glencore joint venture near Singleton which, if approved, would be the single biggest coal expansion since the Paris Agreement.
Other plans in the wings include the Rix's Creek north Continuation, also near Singleton, and the proposed four-year extension of BHP's Mt Arthur coal mine near Muswellbrook.
The NSW Government must give full consideration to the impacts large coal mine expansions are having on communities, water, farmland, the environment, and climate and let the public participate in decision-making, Ms Woods said.
"The continued expansion of coal mining and its greenhouse gas pollution is endangering the well-being of the public and the economic future of other industries right across NSW," she said.
"These expanded coal mining proposals should not be snuck through the system without scrutiny and public debate about who is paying the cost for the coal mining industry pollution."
The Alliance will be represented by the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) a leading public interest environmental law service.
EDO managing lawyer Rana Koroglu said the alliance was simply taking this action to uphold community rights to access information held by their governments.
"Public access to information and transparency of government decision making are cornerstones of our democracy. Public participation is built into the NSW Planning Act," Ms Koroglu said.
"The weaker assessment of coal mine developments as modifications rather than new developments has serious implications for public participation. Any such decision requires close scrutiny.
"Our client is taking this matter to the NCAT to ensure that decision-making is transparent and that public authorities can be held to account for their actions.
"Our client rejects the Planning Department's assertion that information shared by coal mining companies with the regulator is subject to professional legal privilege and therefore exempt under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.
"Our client considers that it is in the public interest for this information to be released. That is why our client has decided to take the matter to the NCAT for a determination."
Lock the Gate analysis of coal mine expansion plans reveals that only four of the nine being treated as modification plans provide estimated greenhouse gas emissions figures, and they come to 324 million tonnes of C02-e emissions.
That is equal to two and a half times the volume of emissions produced in NSW in 2019, from just four coal mines that are not subject to independent scrutiny, Lock the Gate says.
QUESTION marks over the level of scrutiny of coal mining expansion plans lay at the heart of legal action against the NSW State Government.
Environmental group Lock the Gate Alliance launched legal action after the NSW Planning Department twice refused to release correspondence from coal company lawyers.
The department released only two out of a suite of documents used by coal companies to justify the assessment of changes to coal mine developments as "modifications", rather than new developments.
Lock the Gate's argument is that expanding coal mines via modifications means coal mine developers can avoid having their plans determined by the independent decision maker, the Independent Planning Commission.
In November 2024, the Information Commissioner found the department's decision to refuse the information was not justified and recommended that the department make a new decision.
However, that recommendation was ignored. The department has argued the documents were provided in confidence, and that consideration outweighed the public interest in favour of their release.
The matter is now listed before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal for determination, starting with a directions hearing today (June 10).
Lock the Gate's head of research and investigations, Georgina Wood, said the public had a right to know if big coal mine developers were influencing the NSW Minns Government and its Planning Department, leading to coal projects being assessed under a less transparent, less accessible process.
"There are ten coal projects undergoing or awaiting assessment as modifications, and we want to make sure they are subject to the highest level of scrutiny available in NSW," Ms Woods said.
They include the HVO Continuation Project, a Yancoal/Glencore joint venture near Singleton which, if approved, would be the single biggest coal expansion since the Paris Agreement.
Other plans in the wings include the Rix's Creek north Continuation, also near Singleton, and the proposed four-year extension of BHP's Mt Arthur coal mine near Muswellbrook.
The NSW Government must give full consideration to the impacts large coal mine expansions are having on communities, water, farmland, the environment, and climate and let the public participate in decision-making, Ms Woods said.
"The continued expansion of coal mining and its greenhouse gas pollution is endangering the well-being of the public and the economic future of other industries right across NSW," she said.
"These expanded coal mining proposals should not be snuck through the system without scrutiny and public debate about who is paying the cost for the coal mining industry pollution."
The Alliance will be represented by the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) a leading public interest environmental law service.
EDO managing lawyer Rana Koroglu said the alliance was simply taking this action to uphold community rights to access information held by their governments.
"Public access to information and transparency of government decision making are cornerstones of our democracy. Public participation is built into the NSW Planning Act," Ms Koroglu said.
"The weaker assessment of coal mine developments as modifications rather than new developments has serious implications for public participation. Any such decision requires close scrutiny.
"Our client is taking this matter to the NCAT to ensure that decision-making is transparent and that public authorities can be held to account for their actions.
"Our client rejects the Planning Department's assertion that information shared by coal mining companies with the regulator is subject to professional legal privilege and therefore exempt under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.
"Our client considers that it is in the public interest for this information to be released. That is why our client has decided to take the matter to the NCAT for a determination."
Lock the Gate analysis of coal mine expansion plans reveals that only four of the nine being treated as modification plans provide estimated greenhouse gas emissions figures, and they come to 324 million tonnes of C02-e emissions.
That is equal to two and a half times the volume of emissions produced in NSW in 2019, from just four coal mines that are not subject to independent scrutiny, Lock the Gate says.
QUESTION marks over the level of scrutiny of coal mining expansion plans lay at the heart of legal action against the NSW State Government.
Environmental group Lock the Gate Alliance launched legal action after the NSW Planning Department twice refused to release correspondence from coal company lawyers.
The department released only two out of a suite of documents used by coal companies to justify the assessment of changes to coal mine developments as "modifications", rather than new developments.
Lock the Gate's argument is that expanding coal mines via modifications means coal mine developers can avoid having their plans determined by the independent decision maker, the Independent Planning Commission.
In November 2024, the Information Commissioner found the department's decision to refuse the information was not justified and recommended that the department make a new decision.
However, that recommendation was ignored. The department has argued the documents were provided in confidence, and that consideration outweighed the public interest in favour of their release.
The matter is now listed before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal for determination, starting with a directions hearing today (June 10).
Lock the Gate's head of research and investigations, Georgina Wood, said the public had a right to know if big coal mine developers were influencing the NSW Minns Government and its Planning Department, leading to coal projects being assessed under a less transparent, less accessible process.
"There are ten coal projects undergoing or awaiting assessment as modifications, and we want to make sure they are subject to the highest level of scrutiny available in NSW," Ms Woods said.
They include the HVO Continuation Project, a Yancoal/Glencore joint venture near Singleton which, if approved, would be the single biggest coal expansion since the Paris Agreement.
Other plans in the wings include the Rix's Creek north Continuation, also near Singleton, and the proposed four-year extension of BHP's Mt Arthur coal mine near Muswellbrook.
The NSW Government must give full consideration to the impacts large coal mine expansions are having on communities, water, farmland, the environment, and climate and let the public participate in decision-making, Ms Woods said.
"The continued expansion of coal mining and its greenhouse gas pollution is endangering the well-being of the public and the economic future of other industries right across NSW," she said.
"These expanded coal mining proposals should not be snuck through the system without scrutiny and public debate about who is paying the cost for the coal mining industry pollution."
The Alliance will be represented by the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) a leading public interest environmental law service.
EDO managing lawyer Rana Koroglu said the alliance was simply taking this action to uphold community rights to access information held by their governments.
"Public access to information and transparency of government decision making are cornerstones of our democracy. Public participation is built into the NSW Planning Act," Ms Koroglu said.
"The weaker assessment of coal mine developments as modifications rather than new developments has serious implications for public participation. Any such decision requires close scrutiny.
"Our client is taking this matter to the NCAT to ensure that decision-making is transparent and that public authorities can be held to account for their actions.
"Our client rejects the Planning Department's assertion that information shared by coal mining companies with the regulator is subject to professional legal privilege and therefore exempt under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.
"Our client considers that it is in the public interest for this information to be released. That is why our client has decided to take the matter to the NCAT for a determination."
Lock the Gate analysis of coal mine expansion plans reveals that only four of the nine being treated as modification plans provide estimated greenhouse gas emissions figures, and they come to 324 million tonnes of C02-e emissions.
That is equal to two and a half times the volume of emissions produced in NSW in 2019, from just four coal mines that are not subject to independent scrutiny, Lock the Gate says.
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