Last Friday, 27th of July 2024, AgForce agreed to vacate the Court dates of 1 and 2 August 2024 set in place to seek a judicial review of a decision by the Federal Government in Feb 2022 to waive through a proposal by Glencore to pump industrial waste into the Great Artesian Basin.
This comes following eight months of legal work commenced in December 2023 by AgForce to augment its existing and ongoing broad-based advocacy efforts in protecting the Great Artesian Basin from mining giant Glencore.
One of the most perturbing elements of the Court proceedings was in the assertion by the respondents (Australian Government and Glencore) that AgForce did not have standing in representing its members and industry in this important matter.
The legal work strengthened AgForce's hand in ensuring the Glencore proposal was declined fully and irreversibly and our ongoing work to get federal law changed to protect the Great Artesian Basin in perpetuity.
AgForce CEO Michael Guerin says the campaign will continue outside of the court room buoyed by the success of our legal actions.
"AgForce implores the Federal Government and Federal Opposition to commit to fundamental reforms to the EPBC Act that include a water trigger in the MNES provisions and that can give every Australian the confidence that this sorry episode will not be repeated."
"Our work for the Great Artesian Basin has been one of AgForce's most consequential campaigns in its 25th-year."
"The legal actions taken have uncovered the true extent of the collaboration between the Government and Glencore to invest in Coal Fired power generation and in doing so to propose pumping industrial waste into the Great Artesian Basin."
Mr Guerin says the investigations reveal what was known all along.
"Both the State Government's EIS process and independent expert advice showed some probable implications of allowing this to proceed that included but was not limited to potentially having heavy metals enter our food supply."
"It makes no sense for a Government supposedly dedicated to an energy transition to support ongoing investment in Coal Fired power generation with an international mining giant, especially where the resultant waste disposal activities put Australia's food security at risk and create irreversible damage to the Great Artesian Basin."
