Antinuclear

Attorney general George Brandis took the plan to cabinet “under the line” on Monday and it was approved by the Coalition party room on Tuesday, where Tony Abbott said he wanted to use the issue to prove Labor was “torn between workers and greens”, whereas the Coalition was always on the side of the “hard-working and decent” workers.

Brandis said the government would seek to repeal section 487 (2) of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act and “return to the common law”. The government says “vigilante” green groups have been “sabotaging” development, jobs and growth by “lawfare” – unfair and improper use of the courts………

Abbott repeated the claim that the Adani mine would bring 10,000 jobs to Queensland even though the company’s own financial officer told a court this was not true and only 1,464 jobs would be created.

He told his party room “green activists” were “sabotaging” projects that could be bringing growth and jobs to Australia. The approval of the $16bn Carmichael mine, to be located in Queensland’s Galilee Basin region, was set aside earlier this month following a legal challenge by the Mackay Conservation Group.

The federal environment department said it would take six to eight weeks to reassess the project after it emerged the environment minister, Greg Hunt, had not properly considered the mine’s impact on two vulnerable species – the yakka skink and the ornamental snake……..

Initially the government was considering ways to make the environment minister immune from legal challenges if he or she ignored conservation advice provided by the department, but has now settled on restrictions to the groups that can bring legal action.

Separate amendments to the EPBC Act have been held up in the Senate since last year.

The government’s plan was on Tuesday attacked by farm groups protesting against coalmines and CSG wells.

“If George Brandis has his way, local landcare groups like ours would have no right to challenge the federal approval of a devastating coalmine like Shenhua,” said Nicky Chirlian, a member of the Upper Mooki Landcare Group challenging the NSW approval of the Shenhua Watermark coalmine.

“I won’t be directly affected by the Shenhua mine, but my regional environment and my entire community will be. If these changes go ahead, it will undermine basic justice and fairness for rural communities who are facing off against the biggest mining companies in the world” she said.

“The Carmichael mine was rejected because the minister made a mistake. Now the government are using this error to cut Australians’ rights to protect the environment,” said Greenpeace chief executive David Ritter……..http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/18/coalition-to-remove-green-groups-right-to-challenge-after-carmichael-setback?CMP=share_btn_tw