Overview
- The High Court dismissed MACH Energy’s appeal on Wednesday, holding the 2022 approval for the Mount Pleasant expansion was invalid because the Independent Planning Commission did not consider imposing conditions to minimise greenhouse gas emissions.
- Judges said planners must address downstream or 'Scope 3' emissions from coal burned overseas, which comprised about 98% of the project’s life‑cycle footprint and were estimated at roughly 859 million tonnes for the proposed expansion.
- The case was brought by the Denman Aberdeen Muswellbrook Scone Healthy Environment Group, led by Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan, after a multi‑year legal fight that reached Australia’s highest court for the first climate test case.
- MACH Energy said it accepted the ruling and will review options while industry groups and opposition politicians urged state or federal legislation to restore certainty and state ministers said they would study the judgment’s implications for NSW planning rules.
- Legal experts say the decision establishes a binding interpretation of NSW planning law that could affect future fossil fuel approvals, prompt more climate litigation using improved attribution science, and leave open questions about how it applies to federal approvals.