SANTOS DECISION CHANGES PLAYING FIELD FOR OIL AND GAS

Munupi Elder Dennis Tipakalippa’s Federal Court win has overturned approvals for Santos’s $4.7 billion Barossa gas project. Credit: Environmental Defenders Office.

The Federal Court’s decision to overturn a key approval for Santos’s Barossa fossil gas project will have ramifications for how resources companies consult with Traditional Owners, according to a lawyer in the case. 

The court found the drilling permit for the $4.7 billion offshore project was invalid because relevant Tiwi Island Traditional Owners, including litigant and Munupi Elder Dennis Tipakalippa, had not been consulted by Santos.

Santos has begun drilling wells in the Timor Sea for the project, but cannot continue without valid approval.

“I am the happiest man alive,” said Mr Tipakalippa following the decision.

Santos argued it had consulted sufficiently by reaching out to the Tiwi Land Council in unanswered emails and phone calls.

“Santos didn’t even identify Tiwi Traditional Owners themselves as relevant people in this process,” said Environmental Defenders Office Special Counsel Alina Leikan, who acted for Mr Tipakalippa.

“They didn’t think about the question of whether Traditional Owners as separate from the Land Council are people that should have been consulted.”

Ms Leikan said the decision sets a new standard for how Traditional Owners should be consulted.

“This decision is a reckoning for the gas and oil industry,” she said.

“Especially in relation to offshore projects, this decision will have a binding impact. The regulator will have to look at every single environmental approval through the lens of what’s been decided in this decision.”

According to Ms Leikan, the court’s decision may also impact onshore mining and resources projects, as there are similar regulations they must comply with.

A Santos spokesperson said the outcome was “disappointing” and the company plans to appeal it.