A bilateral agreement under the EPBC Act that comes into force after a controlled action decision can displace the Part 8 assessment process. An assessment report that identifies information deficiencies can still constitute a valid 'assessment report' under s 133 if supplemented by information obtained under s 132. The majority held that failure to consider Territory conditions under s 134(4)(a) renders the approval invalid, though Tamberlin J dissented on this point applying Project Blue Sky and Peko-Wallsend. The case was split 2-1 on the invalidity question, with the majority finding jurisdictional error.
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