Historic outcomes of the 'Possums Case'

27 May 2020

"The Rubicon Forest Protection Group welcomes the judgement of Justice Mortimer in the Possums Case, announced today", Mr Ken Deacon, convenor of the RFPG, said today.

The court found that VicForests had failed to apply the 'precautionary principle' to its logging operations (as it is required to do under the Code of Practice for Timber Production 2014). and that, as a consequence, the exemption of VicForests from having to comply with Commonwealth environmental legislation (under the Commonwealth State Regional Forests Agreement) no longer applied. 

Judge Mortimer’s findings were damning of the way VicForests failed to conduct proper wildlife surveillance, the consequence of which has been that critical habitat of the threatened Greater Gliders and Leadbeater’s Possum has been seriously degraded.  

"The judgement offers real hope that the remarkable biodiversity of the forests of the Central Highlands will at last be properly protected" Mr Deacon said.  "For that to happen, the unsustainable logging of the past decade in the Rubicon State Forest must cease, the proposed end date of 2030 for native forest logging must be brought forward, and the wind-down of logging must commence immediately, not delay until 2024 as the Andrews Government has proposed".

Justice Mortimer has invited the parties to seek to find agreement on what the court should order to protect the habitat of the Greater Glider and the Leadbeater's Possum.  

More commentary regarding the Possums Case can be found on the Environmental Justice Australia website or the Friends of Leadbeater's Possum website.

RFPG salutes the commitment, perserverance and expertise of FoLBP and EJA and all of the many people and organisations who have been part of this project.

Links to all of Justice Mortimer’s judgements in the Possums case:

  1. Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum Inc v VicForests [2018] FCA 178 (“separate question reasons”
  2. Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum Inc v VicForests [2018] FCA 532 (“injunction reasons”)
  3. Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum Inc v VicForests [2018] FCA 652 (“relief reasons”)
  4. Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum Inc v VicForests [2020] FCA 704 (27 May 2020; final judgement reasons)
  5. Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum Inc v VicForests [2020] FCA 705 (27 May 2020; costs reasons)