A regional waste facility or a local tip out of place? A nomospheric investigation of power and legal categorisation

What follows is a text of a presentation given to the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers in New York, 26 February 2012. ————————– Introduction I want to speak to you about a landfill, composting and recycling facility that was proposed, assessed and – after legal and political twists and turns – was [...]

Dragging coal through the courts: an alternative emissions-reduction strategy

The bill creating the carbon price has passed through Parliament. However, the campaigning efforts of the environmental lobby will not pause. More than ever, the coal industry is in its sights, with court cases against XStrata in Queensland and HRL in Victoria now underway. Getting regional Victoria’s Hazelwood power station closed is a potential prize [...]

Privatising environmental regulation – the Wonthaggi desalination plant and the EPA

Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has barely had a positive word said about it over recent years. Since 2009, particularly following its handling of the landfill gas leak near Cranbourne, it has been criticised by the Victorian Ombudsman, the Auditor-General, and in February 2011 by a consultant commissioned by the agency to review its compliance [...]

The Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project and ESD

I was recently published in the book Marine Resources Management, edited by Warwick Gullett, Clive Schofield and Joanna Vince. The book is available from LexisNexis Butterworths. My chapter, ’The Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project and environmental law: A model for ecologically sustainable development?’, inquires into the ‘sustainability’ of the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project. I conclude: [...]