The date has now been set for 30 July in Sydney, when a judge is expected to hear the details of the appeal, before taking around six to eight weeks to make a ruling.
The hearing was originally scheduled to take place on 19 October until intervention over the weekend from Steve Kons, Tasmania’s Minister for Primary Industries and Water, who had not been satisfied at the delay in the proceedings.
‘I’m satisfied that there has been agreement to at least bring the appeal forward to the earlier date, so that the people of the Meander valley don’t have to wait for any longer than is absolutely necessary for a decision,’ said Kons.
He said the hearing was mainly to settle differences between the Tasmanian Conservation Trust and the federal government after the former appealed against the commonwealth’s approval of the dam project.
Senior counsel Alan Robertson, an expert in administrative law, has been employed to represent the interests of the state, added Kons.
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