One of the new words we have heard in recent years is “lawfare”, the use of the law as a weapon of war. In Australia, it has been alleged that environmental groups such as the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Environmental Defenders Office have been engaged in lawfare against mining projects, particularly regarding CSG and Galilee basin coal projects. Clearly environmental law has risen to great prominence in the public debate. As an economist, it is of great interest to me how economic factors are taken into account in environmental litigation and ultimately in judgments.

Hence I have great interest in an upcoming seminar on Economics in Environmental Law in Brisbane this Thursday (12 November) evening at 6.30pm, which is being hosted by the Environmental Defenders Office (Qld) at the College of Law, 140 Ann Street. Much attention will be given to the use of economic modelling in the assessment of projects, and whether improvements can be made to policies regarding the economic assessment of major projects. Speakers will include Rod Campbell from the Australia Institute, Cameron Murray (photo below) from the University of Queensland’s School of Economics and Sean Ryan from EDO Qld. And, with my Economic Society of Australia (Qld) Secretary’s hat on, I will chair the seminar. If you are interested, please consider registering via the website linked to above. I am looking forward to a lively discussion and debate!

Cameron Murray, UQ Economics