“Woodside is proposing to extend the life of the oldest, dirtiest gas plant in Australia until 2070. It has already produced billions of tonnes of pollution and destroyed thousands of pieces of ancient rock art.
“This is a hugely significant decision, requiring a proper assessment process that is objective and impartial, not rushed through for political point scoring.
Mia Pepper, the Acting Executive Director of the Conservation Council of WA, said today:
“Woodside has tried to pull the wool over the public’s eyes by slicing and dicing the Burrup Hub into smaller approvals to obscure the scale of the proposal for the most polluting fossil fuel project in the Southern Hemisphere, locking in six billion tonnes of carbon pollution until 2070.
“From the outset, we have known that Woodside is hell bent on widespread gas expansion across WA to facilitate gas exports from the North West Shelf. More WA gas being exported overseas, will simply drive-up domestic power prices, reducing our domestic gas supply.
“The approval of this project has nothing to do with addressing WA’s cost of living crisis whatsoever - to suggest otherwise is complete fantasy. WA drivers pay more in car registration than the gas industry pays in royalties, while employing less than 1% of WA’s workforce.
“Woodside has consistently failed to meet WA’s domestic gas reservation policy and the vast majority of WA’s gas is shipped overseas. WA doesn’t have a gas supply problem, we have a gas export problem.
“The average West Australian isn’t concerned about how quickly the government approves another fossil fuel project. Recent polling in WA showed voters put climate and environment as higher priorities as opposed to supporting WA’s export industry.
“Peter Dutton has completely missed the mark on the North West Shelf and it shows just how out of touch he is with issues on the ground.
“The North West Shelf extension needs to be assessed for what it is: the centrepiece of Woodside’s Burrup Hub, opening up widespread industrialisation of WA’s oceans and iconic Pilbara and Kimberley landscapes.
“Without the North West Shelf there is no Browse gas project. The North West Shelf decision is not just about whether the oldest, dirtiest gas plant in Australia gets its life extended for another half a century, this decision is about whether the government wants to open the floodgates to Woodside drilling for Browse gas around the precious and fragile Scott Reef.
“Woodside’s Burrup Hub is the largest fossil fuel project in the Southern Hemisphere, located on top of the largest ancient rock art site on earth, currently nominated for UNESCO World Heritage, while also threatening the future of Australia’s largest offshore coral reef. This is the biggest climate and cultural heritage decision in Australia, and deciding about a 50 year extension requires proper consideration of all available evidence.
“There are serious impacts from this project which are yet to be fully assessed by the government. A project at this scale with impacts that have intergenerational consequences should not be rushed.”
ENDS
Media contact:
John Cooke - Conservation Council of WA – 0433 679 780 [email protected]