Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been named in a legal challenge to a proposed $2 billion pulp mill in Tasmania's north.
The Wilderness Society today filed the action in the Federal Court in Hobart naming Mr Turnbull and proponents Gunns Ltd as the co-respondents.
It is seeking an interim injunction to stop the federal government's current assessment of the pulp mill project being carried out under national environmental protection and biodiversity conservation laws.
The Wilderness Society's Tasmanian spokesman Geoff Law said the assessment announced by Mr Turnbull two weeks ago would fast-track the proposal without considering all the environmental impacts.
He said the action seeks to overturn a decision by Mr Turnbull in which he allowed Gunns to remove its pulp mill proposal from the independent Resource Planning and Development Commission (RPDC) inquiry in March.
Gunns cited RPDC delays for the withdrawal and Premier Paul Lennon introduced a bill that has passed through state parliament giving politicians the power to decide on the plan by early September.
Mr Law said Mr Turnbull was now allowing the pulp mill proposal to undergo a much less rigorous assessment.
"Instead, he has gone down the same fast-track road as the state government by complying with Gunns' demand for a completed assessment by September," he said.
"The proposed pulp mill will now escape the scrutiny of a public hearings process.
"The impacts of the pulp mill on Tasmania's forests, water and wildlife will not be looked at by either the state assessment or the federal assessment."
The Wilderness Society will seek an injunction on May 31, but the case could drag on for several months until a decision is reached.
Gunns has previously said it would not proceed with the mill unless it was approved by August.
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