Gomeroi Traditional Owners Win Federal Court Appeal Against Santos Gas Project

Gomeroi Traditional Owners from the Pilliga Forest in NSW’s Central West are celebrating after the Federal Court ruled in their favour in an appeal against Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project.

In 2022, Gomeroi Traditional Owners and Santos faced the Native Title Tribunal, with Native Title Holders asking that the Narrabri Gas Project, a $3.6 billion gas project that would see 850 coal seam gas wells constructed across 95,000 hectares of private farmland and state forest, not proceed.

Bibblewindi Treatment Plant in the Pilliga Forest

After months of deliberation, the Native Title Tribunal ruled in December 2022 that the benefits to the community and society outweighed the concerns raised by the Traditional Owners, including damage to culture, land, and water and the impact the fossil fuel project would have on worsening climate change.

The Appeal Faces the Federal Court

The Gomeroi Native Title Holders appealed the Native Title Tribunal’s decision in the Federal Court, raising six laws in the case, one of which was climate change.

Chief Justice Debra Mortimer said at the ruling that the tribunal should have taken public interest in mitigating climate change and its impact on Native Title when considering the case in Native Title Court.  

Gomeroi woman Suellyn Tighe described the ruling as ‘groundbreaking’.  ‘It’s a huge win, and people should be celebrating,’ she continued.

The Pilliga Forest is a biodiversity hotspot, with strong cultural significance for Gomeroi people. It is also a recharge zone for the Great Artesian Basin

What’s next for the project?

Deliberation between Santos and Native Title Holders will continue as they await further orders from the Federal Court.  However, one of hte additional claims was that Santos have not acted in good faith, leaving little hope that deliberations would land in Native Title Holders’ favour. 

After the ruling was handed down, Santos released a statement saying that the decision was based on climate impacts and that ‘the court did not make any findings in relation to Santos’ conduct’.  

While the court orders regarding the next steps are being deliberated, Santos has said it will ‘continue to engage constructively with the Gomeroi people’ and ‘work closely with them to ensure their heritage is protected and they benefit from the project’.

Community Opposition to the Narrabri Gas Project

The proposed Narrabri Gas Project is widely condemned in the Narrabri area, and Traditional Owners, farmers, researchers, and ecologists have all come together to oppose it.

Community opposition to Santos has been strong since the project was greenlit in 2020 | Image by Lock the Gate

Earlier this year, fires ravaged parts of the Pilliga State Forest, creating concern for locals over the implications of out-of-control bushfires passing through active gas fields with flaring, underground pipelines, and vast infrastructure.

The fight to protect the Pilliga against coal seam gas will continue as community groups, Traditional Owners, and farmers rally against fossil fuel giant Santos to protect this fragile and ecologically significant area of the Pilliga Forest. You can support the campaign to protect the Pilliga by pre-registering for the Pilliga Ultra 2024, an ultramarathon through the forest to raise funds to support the campaign and bring tourism and support to the local communities.

Runners assemble at the start line of the Pilliga Ultra, 2022 | Photo by Capucine Merlant-Pilonchery