Cultural heritage laws face overhaul

Original article by Mohammad Alfares
The Australian – Page: 9 : 29-Apr-25

Shadow Indigenous Australians minister Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says a Coalition government will overhaul the nation’s cultural heritage protection laws, and that it will introduce a "national interest test" for cultural heritage claims. Nampijinpa Price said a national register of culturally significant sites would be set up to accelerate approvals, fees and processing times for cultural heritage applications will be capped, and penalties for making false cultural heritage claims would be introduced. She accused Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek of "dropping the ball" on promised heritage reforms, saying the federal government had preferred to listen to ‘fringe groups’ rather than doing what was best for Indigenous Australians and local communities.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER

Santos gets green light on $5bn project

Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 16-Jan-24

The Federal Court’s Justice Natalie Charlesworth has ruled that Santos will not need to revise its environmental plan for the $5.3bn Barossa LNG project in the Timor Sea. Justice Charlesworth ordered Santos to temporarily stop work on a 262km pipeline in late 2023, pending a final ruling on Tiwi Islanders’ legal challenge to the Barossa project; Justice Charlesworth on Monday said she was not convinced that the pipeline would cause irreparable harm to the cultural heritag of the traditional owners. Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher says the company will shortly resume its drilling program, adding that the court ruling will have broad economic benefits.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA