Environmental Defenders Office Ordered to Pay $9 Million to Santos After Failed Pipeline Challenge

The legal group was found to have coached witnesses in its case against the Barossa gas project, leading to a court-ordered indemnity payment covering Santos' legal costs.

• The Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) must pay $9,042,093 to Santos after its attempt to block the Barossa gas pipeline near the Tiwi Islands was dismissed by the Federal Court.
• Justice Natalie Charlesworth ruled that the EDO engaged in 'subtle coaching' of Indigenous witnesses and relied on evidence deemed unreliable and lacking integrity.
• The case, brought on behalf of Tiwi Island traditional owners, argued the pipeline would harm culturally significant sites tied to the Ampiji rainbow serpent and Crocodile Man songlines.
• Santos stated the EDO was actively involved in the broader 'Stop Barossa Gas' campaign, which aimed to disrupt the gas project, a key component of the company's $456 million Barossa development.
• The ruling raises questions about the EDO's future, as it faces financial strain and potential political challenges to its federal funding, while vowing to continue its public interest legal work.

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The Sydney Morning Herald The Guardian Australian Broadcasting Corporation