Court finds no duty of care owed over climate change

The Australian Federal Court has found the Commonwealth does not owe a duty of care to Torres Strait Islander peoples to protect them from the impacts of climate change or fund adaptation measures.

Judge Michael Wigney ruled Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions targets are matters of “core government policy” which should be decided by the parliament and not the courts.

Guda Maluyligal traditional owner Uncle Pabai Pabai said after the decision was handed down that his heat was broken for the families affected.

“This pain isn’t just for me, it’s for all people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, who have been affected by climate change,” he said.

The judge also rejected claims that any cultural loss should be compensated under negligence law.

He said he had “considerable sympathy” for the argument, but did not consider it open to him, as a single judge, to recognise it in law.

Uncle Paul Kabai and Uncle Pabai Pabai – from the islands of Saibai and Boigu – brought the case to the Federal Court in Cairns to hear the outcome.

The judge said the Torres Strait Islander people’s case did not fail because there was no merit in their allegations, but rather because negligence law does not allow compensation for matters of government policy.

The Torres Strait Islands – located between far-north Queensland and Papua New Guinea – are made up of about 270 islands, of which only a few dozen are inhabited. They are part of Australia, and the islands’ residents are Australian citizens.

About 4,000 people live on the islands.