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

A court dismissed a claim the Barossa pipeline, which runs within 7km of Cape Fourcroy on Bathurst Island, would risk underwater Indigenous heritage sites. Photograph: Rebecca Parker

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.