Author(s)

Anthony G. A. Shaw

Diabetes Research Laboratories, School of Clinical Medicine Prince Charles Hospital Northside Clinical Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

This research paper critically evaluates the status of natural resources law in Australia in relation to its capacity to disincentivize the capacity for mining and natural resource extraction related activities to pollute essential water sources. This paper articulates the historical development of the law protecting waterways from pollution within Australia and Queensland and identifies the deficiencies in this development. This paper then investigates mechanisms for improving the capacity of the law to incentivize environmentally sound practices from groups that carry out natural resource extraction. This topic warrants investigation due to the vital nature of water for sustainable growth and development in Queensland, particularly with Australia and Queensland’s dependence on waterways such as the Murray-Darling basin for agricultural and ecological sustainability. This paper investigates the complicated relationship between the necessity of water for facilitating mining infrastructure projects such as coal seam gas extraction, alongside the potential for waterways to become polluted through these processes and negatively impact the livelihood of local populations. This research looks toward jurisdictions who have recently made law reform attempts to address similar issues relating to pollutants from mining practices in waterways such as the recent reforms made by the People’s Republic of China. In studying these reforms, this paper critically assesses the capacity for these law reforms to provide solutions to address pollution caused by natural resource extraction in Australian waterways.

Water Law, Natural Resource Extraction, Environmental Law, Australian Law, Comparative Law

Shaw, A. (2019) Regulating the Pollution of Queensland’s Waterways from Natural Resource Extraction: Potential Pathways to Law Reform Inspired by Recent Chinese Developments in Environmental Law. Beijing Law Review, 10, 682-697. doi: 10.4236/blr.2019.104039.