AUSTRALIAN CLIMATE CASE APPEAL: TUESDAY 28 JULY / MELBOURNE FEDERAL COURT
By Jim O’Toole
Islanders seeking billions in reparation for alleged sinking islands in Torres Strait. Australian courts have not yet woken up to the US exodus from the Paris Climate Accord and net zero. In America ‘climate change’ is dead in the water, so to speak.
Three other countries, Iran, Libya and Yemen have exited the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and numerous others have indicated they too might go.
Torres Strait Islanders have long been an easy target for the farce of climate change. Labor/Greens, academics, United Nations, WEF, bogus environmental bodies such as the ACF, WWF, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation have been responsible for brainwashing Torres Strait Islanders about climate change and the sea covering their homes.
Geologists have told Islanders their coral or mud atolls are actually sinking due to unstable substrata. The nearby port of Seisia on the Australian mainland or Horn Island in the straits have not recorded one centimetre of sea rise in 80 years according to residents. Islanders do not understand water finds its own level.
In 1947, king tides caused serious damage to properties and gardens across Saibai Island. Resident Bamaga Ginau called a meeting regarding the future of Saibai and after much discussion a number of families made the decision to leave Saibai and move to the mainland to eventually establish the settlement of Bamaga. Read more in the link below:
Australian Government to face more climate scrutiny in appeal of landmark Torres Strait class action case funded by taxpayers
Story from Grata Fund
Torres Strait community leaders, Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai, have appealed to the Full Federal Court for their landmark duty of care negligence case, Pabai Pabai & Anor v Commonwealth of Australia.
In his decision handed down in July 2025, Justice Wigney found that the Torres Strait Islands, its people and their culture are being “ravaged by human induced climate change” and that climate change poses “an existential threat to the whole of humanity”. He said that the Australian Government does not “currently” have a legal duty of care to protect Torres Strait people from climate harm and that it is not open to a “single judge of this Court to expand the Australian common law of negligence”.
Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul will challenge the decision before three judges in the Full Federal Court. Their legal team will argue that the judge erred in several of his legal conclusions, and put to the Court that: the Commonwealth does owe a duty of care to Torres Strait Islanders in relation to climate change; the Commonwealth’s additional emissions are a legal cause of harm to Torres Strait Islanders; and cultural harm is compensable under Australian law.
Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul are represented by law firm Phi Finney McDonald, and the appeal will be argued by a Counsel team headed by Fiona McLeod AO SC and Sera Mirzabegian SC.
While the Uncles and their legal team have been taking on the Australian Government over the past few years, climate change has continued to impact their homelands. In January this year, the Torres Strait was hit by King Tides with water levels higher than anywhere in the world. And yet, the government continues to approve more mines and gas projects across the country, contributing to Australia’s ranking as the world’s third largest exporter of emissions. Unless we see dramatic changes to climate policies, scientists estimate that the Uncles have 24 years before their home islands Saibai and Boigu will go underwater.
This case is more important than ever in seeking justice as Australia prepares for more climate disasters.
Study finds Indian Ocean sea levels rise 0.00mm over past century
https://cairnsnews.org/2021/12/12/indian-ocean-sea-levels-rise-0-00mm-over-past-century/
Aunty McRose Elu, Saibai / Seisia Elder said:
“This situation gets more severe and no action is taken. What is the government waiting for? The time is getting closer where the islands will go underwater. We can change. And if we don’t take action now it will be too late. Where is the government’s duty of care? Uncle Paul, Uncle Pabai and I have been on this long journey. It’s been over four years and this appeal is our next step. We stay strong and confident and hoping for the better outcome.”
Uncle Paul, Plaintiff and Traditional Owner, Saibai, said:
“Why is the government turning a blind eye to all Indigenous people of Australia facing climate change? Where’s the duty of care for people affected by rising sea levels, bushfires and unpredictable storms? Why does the Australian Government keep approving new coal mines and gas projects when it knows the damage? Australia is the third largest exporter of fossil fuel emissions in the world. Why is it the people who don’t contribute much to climate change are the ones most affected? We Torres Strait Islanders will be the first climate change refugees. Let’s stand together in solidarity and deal with the problem.”
Brett Spiegel, Principal Lawyer, Phi Finney McDonald said:
“Torres Strait Islanders face what his Honour Justice Wigney acknowledged is an ‘existential threat’ from climate change. Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul’s case and their appeal is about the Commonwealth ignoring its alleged duty of care to vulnerable Torres Strait Islanders and ignoring the science in responding to this existential threat.”
Isabelle Reinecke, Founder and Executive Director, Grata Fund said
“Last year, the Federal Court acknowledged that climate change is ‘ravaging’ the Torres Strait Islands, but it stopped short of recognising that the Commonwealth owes a duty of care.
Since then we’ve seen our worst fears for climate harms in the Torres Strait continue to unfold, with more severe floods and rising seas, while the Federal Government’s climate policies remain woefully inadequate. So today Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul and their legal team are appealing their case to the Full Federal Court, to seek accountability and action.
Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul are joined by communities across the country who are increasingly seeking accountability through the courts for climate harms. Until it aligns its emissions reduction targets with science, Australia is likely to face significant legal liability, financial cost and human toll.I commend the determination of Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul for continuing their fight in the Full Federal Court this week, and all communities across the country fighting for climate accountability.”
Further reading about climate change:
