MP’s call to stop court action against jobs heeded by AG & PM

AUGUST 17, 2015: MY call for a legal counter-offensive to stop extreme green groups from taking job-creating projects to court has been heeded with both the Attorney General and the Prime Minister agreeing that action needed to be taken.I spoke to the Attorney General George Brandis shortly after the Carmichael mine approval was overturned in the courts at the instigation of an extreme green group.I told him that it was unacceptable that groups that had nothing to do with this project were able to hold up and try to kill off jobs by waging warfare through the legal system.In an interview on Sunday the Attorney General said he wanted to stop such ‘vigilante litigation’.He stated: “the Adani case has shown why it’s very important that the courts not be used as a forum for vigilante litigation by people whose aim is to game the system, who have no legitimate interest other than to prosecute a political vendetta against development and bring massive developments … to a standstill.”People directly affected by a project should continue to have access to legal avenues.It’s a very different story if you’re a farmer with land being affected by a development.But what Adani has been subjected to is court action by groups such as the Mackay Conservation Group and the Environmental Defender’s Office who are hundreds of miles away from the project.It’s extreme green “lawfare”, or legal warfare, against a project which will provide thousands of jobs which are desperately needed.I believe the Prime Minister has also spoken on this point as well this morning.