- Murrawah Maroochy Johnson, an Indigenous Wirdi woman and Traditional Owner from the Birri Gubba Nation, has been awarded the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize in the category of climate and energy.
- Johnson is the co-founder of Youth Verdict, an advocacy group that successfully won a court case against Waratah Coal in Queensland, Australia. She joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss the significance of this case for First Nations rights in Australia, as well as the legal implications for similar cases in the future.
- The case Waratah Coal Pty. Ltd. vs. Youth Verdict Ltd. & Ors (2022) resulted in the Land Court of Queensland recommending a rejection of a mining lease in the Galilee Basin that would have added 1.58 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere over its lifespan.
- The case also set multiple precedents in Australia, including being the first successful case to link the impacts of climate change with human rights, and the first to include “on-Country” evidence from First Nations witnesses.
In late 2022, the Land Court of Queensland recommended the rejection of a mining lease for one of Australia’s biggest proposed coal mining and export projects, owned by billionaire Clive Palmer’s Waratah Coal Ltd. The project would have emitted 1.58 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over its lifespan and destroyed the 8,000-hectare (20,000-acre) Bimblebox Nature Refuge in the Galilee Basin of central Queensland state.
As co-director of the organization Youth Verdict, Murrawah Maroochy Johnson guided the group’s opposition to that historic court victory that resulted in multiple precedents making the link between climate change impacts and cultural and human rights. In recognition of her leadership, Johnson has been awarded the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize.
On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, she speaks about the significance of the successful case for First Nations rights in Australia, the potential legal implications it could have for future court challenges, and how she plans to continue using the legal system to fight for Indigenous rights and a healthy environment for all.
Listen here:
In addition to the climate-warming gases the Waratah Coal project would have added to the atmosphere, its cultural and biodiversity impacts would also have been significant, severing key cultural connections for First Nations in Queensland, Johnson says.
“The loss of any species is significant and has an actual personal human effect as well. It takes a toll on the ability for First Nations people to be able to continue our cultural knowledge because [those] species that may be very significant to certain Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples … if they don’t exist anymore, then how do we then relate to Country?”
As Johnson reflects on the success of Youth Verdict, she says she plans to continue to use her platform to champion and support other First Nations to use the legal system.
“I really respect litigation and when First Nations people do take up litigation and win, it’s not just little wins, it’s huge, significant wins that really change this country.”
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Banner image: 2024 Goldman Prize winner Murrawah Maroochy Johnson. Image courtesy of Goldman Environmental Prize.
Mike DiGirolamo is a host & associate producer for Mongabay based in Sydney. He co-hosts and edits the Mongabay Newscast. Find him on LinkedIn, Bluesky and Instagram.
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