By Jed Lanyon
VicForests has been ordered by the Full Federal Court to foot the bill for their case against Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum, despite successfully appealing to overturn a ruling that found it had breached conservation regulations.
The state logging agency will pay the conservation group’s full costs for the original trial along with 50 per cent of the appeal costs.
Environmental Justice Australia said the costs decision in the possums case was made in light of findings that the state logging agency breached Victorian law and its operations posed a major threat to two native possum species at high risk of extinction.
The costs judgment stated: “FLP was overwhelmingly successful at trial in establishing, as matters of fact, that VicForests contravened state legislative instruments with respect to the endangered Greater Glider and Leadbeater’s Possum species. Those factual findings were not disturbed on appeal.”
FLP president Steve Meacher said the costs decision highlighted the importance of the case and its findings.
“We urge government to listen and act to conserve the forests found to be in dire need of protection for these precious native possums, that are being driven toward extinction by VicForests’ logging operations,” he said.
“Logging in native forests is killing threatened species and destroying their critical habitat. This battle is not yet over – we are appealing to the High Court and will do everything we can to hold VicForests to account under our federal, as well as state, laws.”
The original decision set a legal precedent applying federal threatened species protection law to the logging industry, which has operated under a special exemption from federal environment law for more than 20 years.
“The Full Court accepted VicForests’ arguments on the main ground of appeal – with all other grounds being argued as an alternative in the event that the first ground was unsuccessful,” A VicForests statement read.
“Importantly the Court has upheld VicForests’ interpretation of the framework for sharing of environmental regulation between the Commonwealth and the States – that is, that forestry operations conducted in an area that is managed through a Regional Forest Agreement are managed under the State regime approved by the Commonwealth through the RFA process, not through the approval process under Commonwealth Law.”
