Asset Energy's push to explore for gas off the Hunter coast has been dealt a massive blow after the Federal Court upheld an earlier decision to reject the project.
The West Australian-based company had sought a judicial review of the Commonwealth-NSW Offshore Petroleum Joint Authority's finding that Asset's application was not in the public interest.
The joint authority also expressed concerns about the estimated cost of the works, and the company's ability to raise the necessary capital to fund the proposed works.
The ruling was made despite the independent regulator, the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA), recommending the permit be extended on multiple occasions.
The court rejected the five grounds of appeal on Wednesday.
Trading in Asset's parent company, BPH Energy, was suspended on the ASX prior to the judgement.
An Asset spokesman said the company was reviewing the judgement, and a statement would be made to the stock exchange in due course.
The company has chosen to fight previous legal setbacks in the courts.
While the Permit 11 (PEP11) zone extends from Newcastle to Sydney, the area where Advent Energy wants to explore is in Commonwealth waters 26 kilometres off Lake Munmorah.
Asset's previous PEP11 permit expired in February 2021. It was effectively cancelled in January 2025.
Advent Energy executive director David Breeze has previously argued that the PEP11 should be a major part of any solution to NSW's gas shortages and high energy prices.
Save Our Coast founder Natasha Deen welcomed Wednesday's judgement, and described it as the "only just decision".
"PEP11 was always an abhorrent and deeply flawed plan to blast and drill for gas off our beautiful coastline, the coast we love and are deeply connected to," she said.
"To subject our precious marine creatures to harm and torment from seismic blasting, and to risk harm to our beautiful coast to drill for gas, was simply unconscionable.
"Our grassroots community group Save Our Coast has spearheaded the campaign since 2018 and collated a diverse chorus of 90,000 voices, receiving historic multi-partisan political support, including all federal MPs in the PEP11 zone, including two prime ministers, united in condemning the risky and dangerous project that was PEP11."
"Finally we can breathe again, knowing that the abhorrent plan is finally put to rest and our beautiful coast safe, as it should be."
Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon similarly said the judgement was a great victory for the community.
"The community waited patiently for the Commonwealth to thoroughly go through all of our processes, which was necessary because of the litigious nature of Asset Energy," she said.
"The community will be greatly relieved that the court has upheld the judgement that they had made, that is, this is not a project that should be here in the first place."
A spokeswoman for Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres said the government acknowledged the court's judgement was considering its implications.
Surfers for Climate chief executive Josh Kirkman said opposition to PEP11 had been driven by "everyday Aussies" who understood what was right and wrong for their coastline.
"Tens of thousands of Australians decided this coast was worth fighting for. They showed up. They stayed in it. And this morning a Federal Court judge told the last company standing that the decision to protect these waters was sound," he said.
"In a time when 'drill baby drill' seems to be on the minds of a minority of politicians and community feeling the pain of an over reliance on volatile petrochemicals for our energy needs, this decision is a line in the sand on the need to shift our energy system faster towards cleaner and more secure forms of energy that support ocean health whilst powering our coastal way of life."
Former prime minister Scott Morrision sensationally intervened to stop the PEP11 project in late 2021.
