Waratah Coal Pty Ltd v. Youth Verdict Ltd

The Queensland Land Court ruled that its recommendations on mining and environmental applications are subject to the procedural and substantive requirements of the Human Rights Act 2019 (QHRA). This decision followed a challenge by Youth Verdict and other environmental groups against Waratah Coal Pty Ltd's proposed Galilee Project, which intended to mine 1.4 billion tonnes of coal over 25 years. The Court rejected Waratah Coal's arguments that its recommendations were not 'acts' or 'decisions' under the QHRA and that it lacked jurisdiction to evaluate human rights. Consequently, on 25 November 2022, the Court recommended that the Minister for Environment and the Minister for Mining and Resources reject Waratah Coal's applications for an environmental authority permit and a mining lease.

• The Queensland Land Court determined that both the procedural requirement to give proper consideration to relevant human rights and the substantive requirement not to make decisions incompatible with human rights apply to its recommendations on mining and environmental applications, including the Galilee Project.
• The Court adopted a broad interpretation of the term 'decision' to align with the purpose of the Human Rights Act 2019 (QHRA), which is to 'protect and promote human rights in the State of Queensland'. It also ruled that the ordinary meaning of 'act' applies under s58(1) QHRA.
• The Court rejected the argument that it lacked jurisdiction to consider human rights in mining applications, stating that s108(1) QHRA applies the Act to all statutory instruments, both past and future.
• On 25 November 2022, the Court recommended that the Minister for Environment reject the application for the environmental authority permit and the Minister for Mining and Resources reject the mining lease application for the Galilee Project.

APA

admin (2025). Waratah Coal Pty Ltd v. Youth Verdict Ltd. ClimaTalk. https://climatalk.org/2025/08/11/waratah-coal-pty-ltd-v-youth-verdict-ltd/

Chicago

admin. Waratah Coal Pty Ltd v. Youth Verdict Ltd. ClimaTalk, 2025. https://climatalk.org/2025/08/11/waratah-coal-pty-ltd-v-youth-verdict-ltd/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=admin |title=Waratah Coal Pty Ltd v. Youth Verdict Ltd |publisher=ClimaTalk |date=11 August 2025 |url=https://climatalk.org/2025/08/11/waratah-coal-pty-ltd-v-youth-verdict-ltd/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{admin2025waratah, author = {admin}, title = {{Waratah Coal Pty Ltd v. Youth Verdict Ltd}}, institution = {ClimaTalk}, year = {2025}, month = aug, url = {https://climatalk.org/2025/08/11/waratah-coal-pty-ltd-v-youth-verdict-ltd/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }