The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) has told the federal government’s inquiry into oil and gas decommissioning that the fossil fuel industry must stop evading its responsibility to clean up after themselves in Western Australian waters.
CCWA Executive Director Matt Roberts said Australia had up to $60 billion in decommissioning work needed in the decades to come, a “massive liability for the Australian taxpayer.”
"We have billions of dollars of oil and gas decommissioning work which will need to begin by 2030, according to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources,” Mr Roberts said.
“More than 5.7 million tonnes of material will need to be removed from our oceans nationally, with 89% of that infrastructure located in WA waters.
“This level of decommissioning work is a massive liability, and we need to make sure gas companies, not taxpayers, are the ones paying for the clean-up and the loopholes are closed to prevent the offloading of liabilities or delay the decommissioning work.
“There’s a total lack of transparency around decommissioning, which needs to be addressed now to avoid a systemic failure in the process ongoing.
“We’re calling on oil and gas companies to report on their liabilities project-by-project, to increase accountability and improve accuracy on cost estimates for decommissioning.
“In addition, we need to end the Petroleum Resources Rent Tax (PRRT) rebate for decommissioning projects, so that multinational companies aren’t using government handouts to clean up after themselves – or, in some cases, getting paid by the taxpayer to do nothing.
“If it’s done right, decommissioning can be an opportunity rather than a liability. Half of the decommissioning work needed in the next 50 years is due to commence by 2030.
“The huge volume of decommissioning required is a chance for WA to create local jobs in decommissioning and steel recycling – jobs that are working to protect the environment, rather than destroy it.”
In August 2025, an alliance of unions and leading environmental organisations recommended a nation-first 'decommissioning hub' be built in WA to manage the state's growing number of retired offshore oil and gas infrastructure.
The WA Can’t Wait report, a collaboration between Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Unions WA, the Conservation Council WA, Maritime Union of Australia - WA Branch, The Wilderness Society, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union - WA Branch, Electrical Trades Union - WA Branch, found that a WA decommissioning hub would deliver thousands of secure, skilled jobs, protect marine ecosystems and coastal communities, and direct scrap steel and other valuable resources into local domestic circular supply chains.
Submissions to the Australian government’s consultation on decommissioning guidelines closed yesterday, 13 January 2026.
ENDS
Media contact: John Cooke – 0433 679 780 – [email protected]