Editor’s note on Gaza
Civilians should never be a target of war, terrorism or violence. The international community, including the Australian Government, must call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
Opinion – Page 3
Andrew McIlwraith on Terraforming and Indigenous Rights
Are historically colonial powers are best placed to ‘solve’ the problem of climate change, which they started in the first place?
Yoorrook truths light the path ahead
The Yoorrook Justice Commission has handed down its historic interim report. Victorians and the Government must listen – and act.
Australia’s mistreatment of asylum seekers seeking refuge by air must end
Australian governments have quietly worked to prevent people seeking asylum from taking safer journeys by air.
Lucy Norton on Listening to Flood
Lucy Norton compassionately reflects on living through the 2022 Lismore Floods and how colonial frameworks misplace our grief in light of climate events.
Lauren Scott on protecting Central Desert culture
Southern Arrente and Arabana person Lauren Scott highlights how climate change impacts intangible cultural property such as language.
Is Rights-Based Climate Litigation Possible in Australia?
Law has emerged as one the key battlegrounds of the Climate Crisis. As the world heats up, so too have many courtrooms around the world as activists try to hold governments and companies to account for their greenhouse gas emissions
Standing to enforce the right to a healthy environment: what are the barriers and do they matter?
The right to a healthy environment is recognised in over 150 countries and is gaining traction in Australia. At the international level, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) recently adopted a resolution recognising that all people have the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment
Realising the Right to a Healthy Environment in Australia
In a historical resolution on 28 July 2022, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) formally recognised the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right. This declaration followed United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution 48/13 of 8 October 2021 that earlier recognized the right to a healthy environment as a human right
The environmental rule of law is fraying
To many observers who increasingly despair at the limp efforts by governments and corporations to address the climate emergency, environmental law can seem like one of the most viable strategies to meaningfully and swiftly address the crisis. Environmental law, given that it’s concerned with the protection of environmental ‘public goods’ or ‘commons’
Does an Implied Right to a Healthy Environment already exist in the Constitution?
The Right to a Healthy Environment may be implied in the Australian Constitution. I argue this position based on existing precedent regarding constitutional implications: the High Court recognises that rights may be implied in the Constitution if ‘necessary’ to protect the Constitution itself: Lange (1997)
Phoebe McIlwraith on dancing with Country
As the climate crisis intensifies, so too does the language we use about the impacts of harmful human behaviour on the environment.