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West Australian
28 minutes ago
- Politics
- West Australian
Climate justice push turns to leaders after court loss
Political leadership is needed on climate change, experts say following the rejection of a landmark case in the Federal Court. On Tuesday, the court rejected the case led by Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai, which argued the Commonwealth owed a duty of care to protect their Torres Strait homelands from the impacts of climate change. The uncles filed the landmark case against the government in the Federal Court in 2021, seeking orders from the court that would require the government to take steps to prevent harm to their communities, including cutting greenhouse gas emissions in line with the best available science. In handing down his decision, Federal Court Justice Wigney Michael accepted many of the key factual elements of the case, including the impacts of climate change on the islands. The case failed, Justice Wigney said, because negligence law does not allow compensation when it comes to government policy decisions. "That will remain the case unless and until the law in Australia changes, either by the incremental development or expansion of the common law by appellant courts or by the enactment of legislation," Justice Wigney said. "Until then, the only real avenue available to those in the position of the applicants and other Torres Strait Islanders, involves public advocacy and protest and ultimately recourse via the ballot box." La Trobe University anthropology lecturer Aidan Craney, whose work is focused on understanding social change in the Pacific Islands region, said the decision shows the need for political leadership on climate justice. Dr Craney said the government's reaction to the case could influence Australia's relationships in the Pacific. "How the Australian government responds to this decision may influence the levels of support it receives from the region," he said. "Current sentiment is broadly positive. However, dissent has come from respected sources, such as the Pacific Elders Voice." Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai said they were shocked and heartbroken after the decision, but vowed to continue pushing to protect their islands. "I'm feeling very emotional," Uncle Pabai Pabai told AAP after the decision. "I wasn't thinking we'd lose this case ... I'm very heartbroken." Griffith University Law School professor Susan Harris Rimmer said the decision was indeed a heartbreaking outcome. She urged the federal government to pass human rights legislation that would allow for the right to a clean, healthy and safe environment. "The United Nations Human Rights Committee has already ruled that rights have been breached by Australia in relation to climate impacts in the Torres Strait," she said."Australia is running out of time for the kind of incremental advocacy and protest that Justice Wigney noted was the only current avenue for reform."
Perth Now
40 minutes ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Climate justice push turns to leaders after court loss
Political leadership is needed on climate change, experts say following the rejection of a landmark case in the Federal Court. On Tuesday, the court rejected the case led by Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai, which argued the Commonwealth owed a duty of care to protect their Torres Strait homelands from the impacts of climate change. The uncles filed the landmark case against the government in the Federal Court in 2021, seeking orders from the court that would require the government to take steps to prevent harm to their communities, including cutting greenhouse gas emissions in line with the best available science. In handing down his decision, Federal Court Justice Wigney Michael accepted many of the key factual elements of the case, including the impacts of climate change on the islands. The case failed, Justice Wigney said, because negligence law does not allow compensation when it comes to government policy decisions. "That will remain the case unless and until the law in Australia changes, either by the incremental development or expansion of the common law by appellant courts or by the enactment of legislation," Justice Wigney said. "Until then, the only real avenue available to those in the position of the applicants and other Torres Strait Islanders, involves public advocacy and protest and ultimately recourse via the ballot box." La Trobe University anthropology lecturer Aidan Craney, whose work is focused on understanding social change in the Pacific Islands region, said the decision shows the need for political leadership on climate justice. Dr Craney said the government's reaction to the case could influence Australia's relationships in the Pacific. "How the Australian government responds to this decision may influence the levels of support it receives from the region," he said. "Current sentiment is broadly positive. However, dissent has come from respected sources, such as the Pacific Elders Voice." Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai said they were shocked and heartbroken after the decision, but vowed to continue pushing to protect their islands. "I'm feeling very emotional," Uncle Pabai Pabai told AAP after the decision. "I wasn't thinking we'd lose this case ... I'm very heartbroken." Griffith University Law School professor Susan Harris Rimmer said the decision was indeed a heartbreaking outcome. She urged the federal government to pass human rights legislation that would allow for the right to a clean, healthy and safe environment. "The United Nations Human Rights Committee has already ruled that rights have been breached by Australia in relation to climate impacts in the Torres Strait," she said."Australia is running out of time for the kind of incremental advocacy and protest that Justice Wigney noted was the only current avenue for reform."
Miami Herald
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Indigenous Australians lose climate change case against government
July 15 (UPI) -- An Australian federal court ruled Tuesday that Indigenous residents of the Torres Strait Islands are not owed environmental protections from the nation's government. Justice Michael Wigney said in his dismissal that "changes wrought by the escalating impacts of global warming and climate change in the Torres Strait have had, and continue to have, a devastating impact on the traditional way of life of Torres Strait Islanders." However, he concluded that the case brought by island community elders Pabai Pabai and Paul Kabai "failed because the law in Australia as it currently stands provides no real or effective avenue through which the applicants were able to pursue their claims." Wigney further explained that current common Australian law is not written in a way that the plaintiffs could seek relief in regard to what they considered a failure of the federal government. The elders, Pabai Pabai and Paul Kabai, launched legal action in 2021 against the government for allegedly failing to protect the Torres Strait Islands from the impact of climate change. The plaintiffs charged that governmental negligence interfered with the completion of Ailan Kastom, customary practices unique to Torres Strait Islanders that relate to a spiritual connection to the islands and surrounding waters. "I thought that the decision would be in our favor, and I'm in shock," said Kabai Tuesday. "My heart is broken for my family and my community," said Pabai. There are around 4,000 residents of the Torres Strait Islands, with 90% who identify as Indigenous. Wigney concluded his ruling with a notation that any future, similar lawsuits will also fail "until the law in Australia changes." He then added that until it does, "the only recourse that those in the position of the applicants and other Torres Strait Islanders have is recourse via the ballot box." Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowenreleased a joint statement with the Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy Tuesday in regard to the case. The release noted ways the current government has attempted to deal with climate change, and that it "remains committed to both acting to continue to cut emissions and adapting to climate impacts we cannot avoid." As for Tuesday dismissal of the case brought by Pabai and Kabai, it concluded that "As the Commonwealth is carefully considering the detailed judgment, it would not be appropriate to comment on the specific findings while this occurs." Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
UPI
6 hours ago
- Politics
- UPI
Indigenous Australians lose climate change case against government
Paul Kabai (L) and Pabai Pabai, seen here after the Federal Court of Australia decision in Cairns, Australia on Tuesday. EPA/BRIAN CASSEY AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT July 15 (UPI) -- An Australian federal court ruled Tuesday that Indigenous residents of the Torres Strait Islands are not owed environmental protections from the nation's government. Justice Michael Wigney said in his dismissal that "changes wrought by the escalating impacts of global warming and climate change in the Torres Strait have had, and continue to have, a devastating impact on the traditional way of life of Torres Strait Islanders." However, he concluded that the case brought by island community elders Pabai Pabai and Paul Kabai "failed because the law in Australia as it currently stands provides no real or effective avenue through which the applicants were able to pursue their claims." Wigney further explained that current common Australian law is not written in a way that the plaintiffs could seek relief in regard to what they considered a failure of the federal government. The elders, Pabai Pabai and Paul Kabai, launched legal action in 2021 against the government for allegedly failing to protect the Torres Strait Islands from the impact of climate change. The plaintiffs charged that governmental negligence interfered with the completion of Ailan Kastom, customary practices unique to Torres Strait Islanders that relate to a spiritual connection to the islands and surrounding waters. "I thought that the decision would be in our favor, and I'm in shock," said Kabai Tuesday. "My heart is broken for my family and my community," said Pabai. There are around 4,000 residents of the Torres Strait Islands, with 90% who identify as Indigenous. Wigney concluded his ruling with a notation that any future, similar lawsuits will also fail "until the law in Australia changes." He then added that until it does, "the only recourse that those in the position of the applicants and other Torres Strait Islanders have is recourse via the ballot box." Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen released a joint statement with the Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy Tuesday in regard to the case. The release noted ways the current government has attempted to deal with climate change, and that it "remains committed to both acting to continue to cut emissions and adapting to climate impacts we cannot avoid." As for Tuesday dismissal of the case brought by Pabai and Kabai, it concluded that "As the Commonwealth is carefully considering the detailed judgment, it would not be appropriate to comment on the specific findings while this occurs."
Al Jazeera
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
‘My heart is broken': Indigenous Australians lose landmark climate case
Indigenous Australians living on a string of climate-threatened islands have lost a landmark court case to hold the government responsible for lacklustre emissions targets, dealing a blow to Indigenous rights in the country. Australia's Federal Court ruled on Tuesday that the government was not obliged to shield the Torres Strait Islands from the effects of climate change. 'The applicants have not succeeded in making their primary case in negligence. The Commonwealth did not and does not owe Torres Strait Islanders the duty of care alleged by the applicants in support of their primary case,' Justice Michael Wigney was quoted by SBS news outlet as saying in his ruling. Scattered through the warm waters off Australia's northernmost tip, the sparsely populated Torres Strait Islands are threatened by seas rising much faster than the global average. Torres Strait elders have spent the past four years fighting through the courts to prove the government failed to protect them through meaningful climate action. 'I thought that the decision would be in our favour, and I'm in shock,' said Torres Strait Islander Paul Kabai, who helped to bring the case. 'What do any of us say to our families now?' Fellow plaintiff Pabai Pabai said: 'My heart is broken for my family and my community.' In his decision, Justice Wigney criticised the government for setting emissions targets between 2015 and 2021 that failed to consider the 'best available science'. But these targets would have had little effect on global temperature rise, he found. 'Any additional greenhouse gases that might have been released by Australia as a result of low emissions targets would have caused no more than an almost immeasurable increase in global average temperatures,' Wigney said. Australia's previous conservative government sought to cut emissions by about 26 percent before 2030. The incumbent left-leaning government in 2022 adopted new plans to slash emissions by 40 percent before the end of the decade and reach net zero by 2050. Fewer than 5,000 people live in the Torres Strait, a collection of about 274 mud islands and coral cays wedged between Australia's mainland and Papua New Guinea. Lawyers for traditional land owners from Boigu and Saibai – among the worst-affected islands – asked the court to order the government 'to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a level that will prevent Torres Strait Islanders from becoming climate refugees'. Sea levels in some parts of the archipelago are rising almost three times faster than the global average, according to official figures. Rising tides have washed away graves, eaten through huge chunks of exposed coastline, and poisoned once-fertile soils with salt. The lawsuit argued some islands would soon become uninhabitable if global temperatures rose more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (34.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. The World Meteorological Organization has warned this threshold could be breached before the end of the decade. More than one billion people will live in coastal areas at risk of rising sea levels by 2050, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Global sea levels could rise by up to 60cm (24 inches) by the end of the century, even if greenhouse gas emissions are not dramatically reduced, it said.
