The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, has conceded that successive governments acted unlawfully when they failed to create mandatory recovery plans for native species threatened with extinction in a major legal win for one of Australia’s largest environmental organisations.
The Wilderness Society has been successful in federal court proceedings it launched in March that sought to compel the minister to make recovery plans for species including the greater glider and the ghost bat.
In a court settlement, reached Friday, the government agreed mandatory recovery plans for four threatened species – the greater glider, the ghost bat, the lungfish and the sandhill dunnart – had not been made and successive ministers had exceeded the timeframe in which the plans were required to be created and put in force.
The government also agreed that recovery plans for seven other threatened species – including the baudin’s and carnaby’s black cockatoos – that were previously said to have expired or “sunsetted”, would remain in force.
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“Today is a win for threatened wildlife across Australia. After decades of neglect by government after government, we took to the courts to fight for Australia’s pride and joy – its diverse and world-important environment,” the Wilderness Society biodiversity policy and campaign manager, Sam Szoke-Burke, said.
“The resolution of this case provides much-needed certainty for Australia’s iconic plants and animals, some of whom have been waiting for over a decade for a legally required recovery roadmap to give them a better chance at surviving extinction.”
Recovery plans set out actions needed to bring species back from the brink of extinction and put them on a better trajectory.
Under Australia’s national environmental laws, the environment minister decides whether a species requires a recovery plan or not. If the minister decides a species does require one, the plan must usually be made within three years.
Once a recovery plan is enacted, the minister must not make decisions that would be considered contrary to its goals and actions.
The Wilderness Society’s legal action followed long-held concerns about a backlog of unfinished and undeveloped plans for species including the greater glider, which has required a recovery plan since 2016 but has no plan in place.
Years of reporting by Guardian Australia has highlighted the failure by successive governments to make recovery plans within the required time frames. An auditor general’s report in 2022 found only 2% of recovery plans had been completed within their statutory timeframe since 2013.
In 2020 the federal environment department told a Senate estimates hearing that 170 plants, animals and habitats were waiting for recovery plans.
To reduce the backlog, the previous Coalition government had the threatened species scientific committee reassess whether some species still required a plan and, in 2022, scrapped the requirement for almost 200 plants, animals and habitats.
In 2022, freedom of information documents obtained by Guardian Australia revealed concerns within the federal environment department that 372 recovery plans covering 575 species and ecosystems were due to expire by the end of 2023.
Last week before it reached its settlement with the Wilderness Society, the government updated its recovery plans webpage to state that recovery plans were exempt from sunsetting.
Szoke-Burke said the legal victory set an important precedent that showed recovery plans were not optional.
“The government now knows that when the law says the minister must do something, that doesn’t mean maybe,” he said.
“This outcome should set a new tone for how the government treats Australia’s iconic and unique natural environment. It’s time to prioritise nature, or face legal action and further community outcry.”
Ellen Maybery, a lawyer at Environmental Justice Australia which acted for the Wilderness Society in the proceedings, said the win “forces the government to act”.
“For decades, successive governments have failed to follow their own laws and deliver these vital recovery plans. The court has now compelled the environment minister to do his job and make the required plans,” she said.
A government spokesperson said Labor is “on track” to deliver recovery plans for the the greater glider, the ghost bat, the lungfish and the sandhill dunnart.
“Plans are currently in their mandatory public consultation period for the Australian lungfish and sandhill dunnart,” they said in a statement.
“Public consultation on plans for the greater glider (southern and central) and ghost bat will be conducted well before the agreed timeframe for the plans’ completion.”
The government is investing more than $600m on actions to aid the recovery of threatened species and ecological communities, they added.
