Born and bred in Byron, David Hertzberg has received the 2024 Mahla Pearlman Australian Young Environmental Lawyer of the Year.
David entered the world at Byron Bay Hospital then spent his formative years at Byron Bay Preschool before enjoying the fun days of youth at, Byron Bay Primary and High School before heading to university. It was at university that he gravitated towards law and after a stint in commercial litigation says he was lucky enough to get work in small public interest litigation focussing on climate and biodiversity issues.
‘It’s hard to grow up in Byron and not care about the environment and care about nature,’ David told The Echo.
‘I’m so grateful for the education I received at Byron Primary and High Schools. There were great teachers and I made many of my best friends at school. There is an ethos in the Byron community of caring about these issues that helped shape what I care about.’
David is currently a Principal Lawyer at Equity Generation Lawyers (EGL), which he joined in 2021.
‘Over the last few years, David has run a number of cases in the Federal and High Courts which have had a significant impact on different aspects of climate change policy in Australia. This impact made David a standout in a very strong field of nominations this year,’ Law Council of Australia President, Mr Greg McIntyre said when recognising David’s achievements.
The Mahla Pearlman Award is named in honour of the former Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales, and former President of the Law Council of Australia, the late honourable Mahla Pearlman AO. The recipient is a young lawyer who has made a significant contribution to environmental law and to the legal and wider community.
EV tax
One of the key environmental cases David worked on that recommended him for the Mahla Pearlman award was the Vanderstock case, where the Victorian government sought to tax owners of low emission and electric vehicles. While the uninformed like myself might think the purpose of paying for the registration of a vehicle was to pay for things like road maintenance the Victorian government felt that fuel tax was what paid for roads. Therefore the significant revenues that governments have been able to collect from the fuel excise tax, the tax that is built into the price of your fuel, was no longer available because low emissions and EV vehicles didn’t purchase traditional fuel. The EV tax was a way for the Victorian state government to try and claw back some of this perceived loss of revenue.
‘The case has broader implications to the relationship between federal and state governments and who, ultimately has the power in relation to various taxation,’ said David.
‘The High Court found that the power sits with the federal government not the states.’
This meant that Victoria was no longer permitted to charge EV and low emission vehicle owners an extra charge for the kilometres they have driven.
Greenwashing
David is currently working with Parents For Climate who have filed a claim in the Federal Court of Australia against EnergyAustralia for misleading over 400,000 consumers about the climate impact of its products.
‘Parents for Climate alleges that EnergyAustralia is misleading customers by marketing its Go Neutral product as “carbon neutral” and having “a positive impact on the environment” when it is primarily generated by burning fossil fuels, which the company claims to have “offset” simply by buying carbon credits,’ explains the Parents For Climate website.
‘This case shines a light on the issue of greenwashing and EnergyAustralia’s claim that it is carbon neutral when it is buying carbon credits,’ said David.
‘When you burn fossil fuels you can’t just buy carbon credits to wipe out the release of carbon into the atmosphere.’
The Mahla Pearlman Australian Young Environmental Lawyer of the Year award is conducted annually by the Australian Environment and Planning Law Group of the Law Council’s Legal Practice Section.
‘The selection of David for this award also recognises the expertise and time he has committed to providing advice to environmental NGOs and community groups and to supporting professional development through his role as a mentor and lecturer in environmental law,’ Mr McIntyre said.
David told The Echo that working in the area of climate change is more about the natural environmental risk to people, climate, and economy.
‘I feel really passionately about this area and I feel lucky to work in this area. Thinking about how we can make the world a better place and having a progressive mindset is a key driver for me,’ he said.
‘Becoming new parents with my partner does reinforce it and make you see the world through a different prism. We talk about 2050 as an important milestone – he’ll be 26 then, finishing university, starting work – and it makes you realise why taking climate action is so urgent, we really do owe it to the future generations to combat biodiversity loss and climate change.’
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