Santos has scored a legal victory in the battle over its $5.8bn Barossa pipeline. But how significant is it?

Court ruling is challenging for the Tiwi Islanders who fought case and likely to prompt a re-think about how Indigenous cultural heritage matters are run

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Australia’s environment movement and fossil fuel interests are weighing the significance of a sharp judicial slapdown delivered in the federal court.

In a judgment on Monday, Justice Natalie Charlesworth rejected claims that a pipeline necessary for a $5.8bn gas development north of Darwin posed a major risk to the cultural heritage of Indigenous people who have lived in the area for tens of thousands of years.

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