Latest news with #WestShelf
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘How does this look?': Greens turn fire on WA senator Dorinda Cox over defection to Labor Party
Defecting Senator Dorinda Cox has been accused of betraying her values and her party after quitting the Greens to join the Labor government. Ms Cox's shock switch came within a week of the AlbAnese government approving the controversial North West Shelf gas project. One Greens source questioned the optics of the move and called into question Ms Cox's motivations. 'How does this look? An Indigenous Green Senator moving over to Labor on the very week that they approved the North West Shelf project which pushes up emissions and is said to threaten Indigenous rock art,' the source said. Ms Cox, who identifies as a Yamatji Noongar woman, previously opposed the gas extension while in the Greens. But since announcing her defection, she has refused to comment on the project's merits, instead citing procedural grounds. 'It wouldn't be for me to make public commentary, particularly during the provisional approval stage,' Ms Cox said at a press conference on Monday. 'My understanding is that Woodside do need to come back to Minister Watt.' The shift follows Ms Cox's loss in a party-room vote for deputy leader to Senator Mehreen Faruqi, by nine votes to three. Labor sources have since characterised Ms Cox's decision as a reaction to 'extremism' in the Greens' policy approach. Her departure reduces the Greens to 10 senators and hands Labor a 29-member bloc in the upper house. Ms Cox has been a controversial figure within the Greens, having faced allegations of bullying from former staff members. However, the Labor Party has confidence that it thoroughly examined these allegations before approving her admission to the party. Ms Cox was also caught up in pro-Palestinian activism in 2024, saying she supported the slogan 'from the river to the sea', which Mr Albanese has condemned. 'I do support and have participated in the change from the river to the sea,' Ms Cox told Sky News in May 2024. "We are urging the government to step up their action to condemn Israel about its actions in Gaza," she said. "And I think that we will continue to chant 'from the river to the sea' to ensure that freedom and peace are delivered. "And I don't have any objection to that." Ms Cox denied knowledge of the origins of the phrase, a term which was used by Khaled Mashal, the founder and former leader of Hamas. Mr Albanese has welcomed Ms Cox into the Labor caucus, stressing she understood the expectations of party discipline. 'Dorinda Cox understands that being a member of the Labor Party means that she will support positions that are made by the Labor Party,' he said on Tuesday. Ms Cox was first appointed to the Senate in 2021 to fill a casual Greens vacancy and was re-elected in 2022. She was previously a Labor branch member before switching parties under the mentorship of then-Greens Senator Rachel Siewert. Greens leader Larissa Waters condemned her former colleague's decision and said she had only been informed of the move an hour before it was announced. 'The Greens are disappointed in Senator Cox's decision to leave the Greens and join the Labor party as a backbencher,' Ms Waters said.
The Advertiser
2 days ago
- Business
- The Advertiser
Gas project extension will need to meet net-zero
Woodside will be required under the safeguard mechanism to ensure a gas project extension meets net-zero emissions by 2050. The energy giant's North West Shelf project, which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant, was last week given approval by the Albanese government to keep operating until 2070. The safeguard mechanism is a policy designed to limit emissions at Australia's largest industrial facilities in line with the nation's climate targets of 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and net-zero by 2050. Asked if Woodside had to get the project down to net-zero emissions, Energy Minister Chris Bowen replied "yes". "This will be legally obliged and required under our safeguard mechanism to meet net-zero by 2050," he told ABC's Insiders on Sunday. "In effect, all the facilities covered, the more than 200 facilities covered by the safeguard mechanism are obliged to have a pathway to net-zero." Asked if approving gas projects would make it harder for Australia to win a global climate summit it is bidding to co-host with Pacific Island nations next year, Mr Bowen said these decisions would always be controversial. "I don't deny that, but we'll always set Australia's domestic policy in Australia's domestic best interest," he said. "There's a great opportunity for our country, (it) restores Australia's leadership in climate against the bad years of the decade of denial and delay, (and) shows we're back in a very meaningful way". Turkey is also bidding for the climate talks, with the energy minister hopeful the issue is resolved soon. Mr Bowen said Australia remains on track to reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, despite a small increase in emissions last year. He also ruled out a retrospective domestic gas reservation policy to existing fields. During the federal election campaign, the coalition promised to redirect gas to domestic users. Woodside will be required under the safeguard mechanism to ensure a gas project extension meets net-zero emissions by 2050. The energy giant's North West Shelf project, which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant, was last week given approval by the Albanese government to keep operating until 2070. The safeguard mechanism is a policy designed to limit emissions at Australia's largest industrial facilities in line with the nation's climate targets of 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and net-zero by 2050. Asked if Woodside had to get the project down to net-zero emissions, Energy Minister Chris Bowen replied "yes". "This will be legally obliged and required under our safeguard mechanism to meet net-zero by 2050," he told ABC's Insiders on Sunday. "In effect, all the facilities covered, the more than 200 facilities covered by the safeguard mechanism are obliged to have a pathway to net-zero." Asked if approving gas projects would make it harder for Australia to win a global climate summit it is bidding to co-host with Pacific Island nations next year, Mr Bowen said these decisions would always be controversial. "I don't deny that, but we'll always set Australia's domestic policy in Australia's domestic best interest," he said. "There's a great opportunity for our country, (it) restores Australia's leadership in climate against the bad years of the decade of denial and delay, (and) shows we're back in a very meaningful way". Turkey is also bidding for the climate talks, with the energy minister hopeful the issue is resolved soon. Mr Bowen said Australia remains on track to reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, despite a small increase in emissions last year. He also ruled out a retrospective domestic gas reservation policy to existing fields. During the federal election campaign, the coalition promised to redirect gas to domestic users. Woodside will be required under the safeguard mechanism to ensure a gas project extension meets net-zero emissions by 2050. The energy giant's North West Shelf project, which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant, was last week given approval by the Albanese government to keep operating until 2070. The safeguard mechanism is a policy designed to limit emissions at Australia's largest industrial facilities in line with the nation's climate targets of 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and net-zero by 2050. Asked if Woodside had to get the project down to net-zero emissions, Energy Minister Chris Bowen replied "yes". "This will be legally obliged and required under our safeguard mechanism to meet net-zero by 2050," he told ABC's Insiders on Sunday. "In effect, all the facilities covered, the more than 200 facilities covered by the safeguard mechanism are obliged to have a pathway to net-zero." Asked if approving gas projects would make it harder for Australia to win a global climate summit it is bidding to co-host with Pacific Island nations next year, Mr Bowen said these decisions would always be controversial. "I don't deny that, but we'll always set Australia's domestic policy in Australia's domestic best interest," he said. "There's a great opportunity for our country, (it) restores Australia's leadership in climate against the bad years of the decade of denial and delay, (and) shows we're back in a very meaningful way". Turkey is also bidding for the climate talks, with the energy minister hopeful the issue is resolved soon. Mr Bowen said Australia remains on track to reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, despite a small increase in emissions last year. He also ruled out a retrospective domestic gas reservation policy to existing fields. During the federal election campaign, the coalition promised to redirect gas to domestic users. Woodside will be required under the safeguard mechanism to ensure a gas project extension meets net-zero emissions by 2050. The energy giant's North West Shelf project, which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant, was last week given approval by the Albanese government to keep operating until 2070. The safeguard mechanism is a policy designed to limit emissions at Australia's largest industrial facilities in line with the nation's climate targets of 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and net-zero by 2050. Asked if Woodside had to get the project down to net-zero emissions, Energy Minister Chris Bowen replied "yes". "This will be legally obliged and required under our safeguard mechanism to meet net-zero by 2050," he told ABC's Insiders on Sunday. "In effect, all the facilities covered, the more than 200 facilities covered by the safeguard mechanism are obliged to have a pathway to net-zero." Asked if approving gas projects would make it harder for Australia to win a global climate summit it is bidding to co-host with Pacific Island nations next year, Mr Bowen said these decisions would always be controversial. "I don't deny that, but we'll always set Australia's domestic policy in Australia's domestic best interest," he said. "There's a great opportunity for our country, (it) restores Australia's leadership in climate against the bad years of the decade of denial and delay, (and) shows we're back in a very meaningful way". Turkey is also bidding for the climate talks, with the energy minister hopeful the issue is resolved soon. Mr Bowen said Australia remains on track to reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, despite a small increase in emissions last year. He also ruled out a retrospective domestic gas reservation policy to existing fields. During the federal election campaign, the coalition promised to redirect gas to domestic users.
The Advertiser
4 days ago
- Business
- The Advertiser
Govt and industry say we need more gas supply. That's nonsense
The first act of a re-elected Albanese government has been to betray future generations. Before the final votes are counted, before ministers have even had time to get their feet under their desks, the government has approved one of the biggest fossil fuel projects in our history: the North West Shelf Extension. The North West Shelf isn't just another gas project. It's the expansion of a decades-old gas hub off the Pilbara coast in WA, near one of the world's oldest cultural sites, Murujuga. It threatens endangered marine life at Scott Reef. It will pump 4.4 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere - ten times Australia's annual domestic emissions. And nearly all of the gas will be shipped overseas. All this, approved under broken environmental laws a government-appointed review found unfit for purpose back in 2020. Laws Labor promised to fix but hasn't yet, after the PM intervened to stop an agreement that was reached with the Greens and crossbench late last year. Right now, communities on the mid north coast of NSW are assessing the damage from yet another flood - the second in four years that authorities are calling a once-in-500-year event. The climate crisis is not theoretical. It's here, it's now, and it's devastating our communities. This project is the textbook example of everything wrong with Australia's gas policy. Its approval comes off the back of a dangerous myth that more gas means cheaper prices for Australians. Over the past decade, east coast gas production has doubled. Prices have tripled. Domestic demand is falling, yet households and manufacturers are paying through the nose because more than three quarters of our gas is exported or used in export processing. Earlier this week households were told to brace for power bill hikes of up to 10 per cent - the cost of gas, coupled with ageing coal major factors as to why. Our approach is in stark contrast to other resource-rich nations. Norway, also a substantial gas exporter, now has a sovereign wealth fund worth $2.8 trillion. Meanwhile, we have nearly $1 trillion of debt. The government's spin about needing to support the energy security of our partners has also been shot down with reports showing Japan made over $1 billion last year by re-exporting our gas. The government and the gas industry say we need more supply. That's nonsense. What we need is a government willing to prioritise domestic use and put a fair price on exports. That means fixing the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, strengthening export controls, and legislating a duty of care to protect young Australians from climate harm. Last term, I introduced a bill to enshrine that duty of care in law. It had support from across the political spectrum and 402 of 403 public submissions. But Labor and the Coalition blocked it. Because deep down, they knew it would stop projects like this one. The Albanese government has taken some steps in the right direction. It legislated emissions targets, invested in renewables, and began backing household electrification. But it also rebranded Scott Morrison's "gas-led recovery" as the "Future Gas Strategy", a document that flies in the face of advice from the IPCC, the IEA, and our own Office of National Intelligence. While I appreciate the confidential briefing the government gave to community-backed independents on this report, I will continue to push for its public release. Australians deserve to know its contents, especially in the context of their government continuing to approve projects like this one. Australians didn't vote for more gas exports. They voted for climate action, cost-of-living relief, and a future our kids can look forward to. Approving the North West Shelf Extension would deliver the opposite. MORE OPINION: It locks in decades of climate damage, deepens our energy crisis, and pours fuel on the fires of inequality. All so multinational gas giants can make a buck. That's not a strategy, it's a sell-out. It doesn't have to be this way. With its new mandate, the government had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get this right. To reject this project. To fix our tax and environmental laws. To prioritise Australian families and businesses over fossil fuel profits. And to show the leadership this moment demands. Next week, the Cabinet is sitting in Perth. Maybe the PM would consider holding Cabinet in Taree instead so ministers can see first hand what happens to communities when projects like the North West Shelf Extension get approved. The first act of a re-elected Albanese government has been to betray future generations. Before the final votes are counted, before ministers have even had time to get their feet under their desks, the government has approved one of the biggest fossil fuel projects in our history: the North West Shelf Extension. The North West Shelf isn't just another gas project. It's the expansion of a decades-old gas hub off the Pilbara coast in WA, near one of the world's oldest cultural sites, Murujuga. It threatens endangered marine life at Scott Reef. It will pump 4.4 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere - ten times Australia's annual domestic emissions. And nearly all of the gas will be shipped overseas. All this, approved under broken environmental laws a government-appointed review found unfit for purpose back in 2020. Laws Labor promised to fix but hasn't yet, after the PM intervened to stop an agreement that was reached with the Greens and crossbench late last year. Right now, communities on the mid north coast of NSW are assessing the damage from yet another flood - the second in four years that authorities are calling a once-in-500-year event. The climate crisis is not theoretical. It's here, it's now, and it's devastating our communities. This project is the textbook example of everything wrong with Australia's gas policy. Its approval comes off the back of a dangerous myth that more gas means cheaper prices for Australians. Over the past decade, east coast gas production has doubled. Prices have tripled. Domestic demand is falling, yet households and manufacturers are paying through the nose because more than three quarters of our gas is exported or used in export processing. Earlier this week households were told to brace for power bill hikes of up to 10 per cent - the cost of gas, coupled with ageing coal major factors as to why. Our approach is in stark contrast to other resource-rich nations. Norway, also a substantial gas exporter, now has a sovereign wealth fund worth $2.8 trillion. Meanwhile, we have nearly $1 trillion of debt. The government's spin about needing to support the energy security of our partners has also been shot down with reports showing Japan made over $1 billion last year by re-exporting our gas. The government and the gas industry say we need more supply. That's nonsense. What we need is a government willing to prioritise domestic use and put a fair price on exports. That means fixing the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, strengthening export controls, and legislating a duty of care to protect young Australians from climate harm. Last term, I introduced a bill to enshrine that duty of care in law. It had support from across the political spectrum and 402 of 403 public submissions. But Labor and the Coalition blocked it. Because deep down, they knew it would stop projects like this one. The Albanese government has taken some steps in the right direction. It legislated emissions targets, invested in renewables, and began backing household electrification. But it also rebranded Scott Morrison's "gas-led recovery" as the "Future Gas Strategy", a document that flies in the face of advice from the IPCC, the IEA, and our own Office of National Intelligence. While I appreciate the confidential briefing the government gave to community-backed independents on this report, I will continue to push for its public release. Australians deserve to know its contents, especially in the context of their government continuing to approve projects like this one. Australians didn't vote for more gas exports. They voted for climate action, cost-of-living relief, and a future our kids can look forward to. Approving the North West Shelf Extension would deliver the opposite. MORE OPINION: It locks in decades of climate damage, deepens our energy crisis, and pours fuel on the fires of inequality. All so multinational gas giants can make a buck. That's not a strategy, it's a sell-out. It doesn't have to be this way. With its new mandate, the government had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get this right. To reject this project. To fix our tax and environmental laws. To prioritise Australian families and businesses over fossil fuel profits. And to show the leadership this moment demands. Next week, the Cabinet is sitting in Perth. Maybe the PM would consider holding Cabinet in Taree instead so ministers can see first hand what happens to communities when projects like the North West Shelf Extension get approved. The first act of a re-elected Albanese government has been to betray future generations. Before the final votes are counted, before ministers have even had time to get their feet under their desks, the government has approved one of the biggest fossil fuel projects in our history: the North West Shelf Extension. The North West Shelf isn't just another gas project. It's the expansion of a decades-old gas hub off the Pilbara coast in WA, near one of the world's oldest cultural sites, Murujuga. It threatens endangered marine life at Scott Reef. It will pump 4.4 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere - ten times Australia's annual domestic emissions. And nearly all of the gas will be shipped overseas. All this, approved under broken environmental laws a government-appointed review found unfit for purpose back in 2020. Laws Labor promised to fix but hasn't yet, after the PM intervened to stop an agreement that was reached with the Greens and crossbench late last year. Right now, communities on the mid north coast of NSW are assessing the damage from yet another flood - the second in four years that authorities are calling a once-in-500-year event. The climate crisis is not theoretical. It's here, it's now, and it's devastating our communities. This project is the textbook example of everything wrong with Australia's gas policy. Its approval comes off the back of a dangerous myth that more gas means cheaper prices for Australians. Over the past decade, east coast gas production has doubled. Prices have tripled. Domestic demand is falling, yet households and manufacturers are paying through the nose because more than three quarters of our gas is exported or used in export processing. Earlier this week households were told to brace for power bill hikes of up to 10 per cent - the cost of gas, coupled with ageing coal major factors as to why. Our approach is in stark contrast to other resource-rich nations. Norway, also a substantial gas exporter, now has a sovereign wealth fund worth $2.8 trillion. Meanwhile, we have nearly $1 trillion of debt. The government's spin about needing to support the energy security of our partners has also been shot down with reports showing Japan made over $1 billion last year by re-exporting our gas. The government and the gas industry say we need more supply. That's nonsense. What we need is a government willing to prioritise domestic use and put a fair price on exports. That means fixing the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, strengthening export controls, and legislating a duty of care to protect young Australians from climate harm. Last term, I introduced a bill to enshrine that duty of care in law. It had support from across the political spectrum and 402 of 403 public submissions. But Labor and the Coalition blocked it. Because deep down, they knew it would stop projects like this one. The Albanese government has taken some steps in the right direction. It legislated emissions targets, invested in renewables, and began backing household electrification. But it also rebranded Scott Morrison's "gas-led recovery" as the "Future Gas Strategy", a document that flies in the face of advice from the IPCC, the IEA, and our own Office of National Intelligence. While I appreciate the confidential briefing the government gave to community-backed independents on this report, I will continue to push for its public release. Australians deserve to know its contents, especially in the context of their government continuing to approve projects like this one. Australians didn't vote for more gas exports. They voted for climate action, cost-of-living relief, and a future our kids can look forward to. Approving the North West Shelf Extension would deliver the opposite. MORE OPINION: It locks in decades of climate damage, deepens our energy crisis, and pours fuel on the fires of inequality. All so multinational gas giants can make a buck. That's not a strategy, it's a sell-out. It doesn't have to be this way. With its new mandate, the government had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get this right. To reject this project. To fix our tax and environmental laws. To prioritise Australian families and businesses over fossil fuel profits. And to show the leadership this moment demands. Next week, the Cabinet is sitting in Perth. Maybe the PM would consider holding Cabinet in Taree instead so ministers can see first hand what happens to communities when projects like the North West Shelf Extension get approved. The first act of a re-elected Albanese government has been to betray future generations. Before the final votes are counted, before ministers have even had time to get their feet under their desks, the government has approved one of the biggest fossil fuel projects in our history: the North West Shelf Extension. The North West Shelf isn't just another gas project. It's the expansion of a decades-old gas hub off the Pilbara coast in WA, near one of the world's oldest cultural sites, Murujuga. It threatens endangered marine life at Scott Reef. It will pump 4.4 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere - ten times Australia's annual domestic emissions. And nearly all of the gas will be shipped overseas. All this, approved under broken environmental laws a government-appointed review found unfit for purpose back in 2020. Laws Labor promised to fix but hasn't yet, after the PM intervened to stop an agreement that was reached with the Greens and crossbench late last year. Right now, communities on the mid north coast of NSW are assessing the damage from yet another flood - the second in four years that authorities are calling a once-in-500-year event. The climate crisis is not theoretical. It's here, it's now, and it's devastating our communities. This project is the textbook example of everything wrong with Australia's gas policy. Its approval comes off the back of a dangerous myth that more gas means cheaper prices for Australians. Over the past decade, east coast gas production has doubled. Prices have tripled. Domestic demand is falling, yet households and manufacturers are paying through the nose because more than three quarters of our gas is exported or used in export processing. Earlier this week households were told to brace for power bill hikes of up to 10 per cent - the cost of gas, coupled with ageing coal major factors as to why. Our approach is in stark contrast to other resource-rich nations. Norway, also a substantial gas exporter, now has a sovereign wealth fund worth $2.8 trillion. Meanwhile, we have nearly $1 trillion of debt. The government's spin about needing to support the energy security of our partners has also been shot down with reports showing Japan made over $1 billion last year by re-exporting our gas. The government and the gas industry say we need more supply. That's nonsense. What we need is a government willing to prioritise domestic use and put a fair price on exports. That means fixing the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, strengthening export controls, and legislating a duty of care to protect young Australians from climate harm. Last term, I introduced a bill to enshrine that duty of care in law. It had support from across the political spectrum and 402 of 403 public submissions. But Labor and the Coalition blocked it. Because deep down, they knew it would stop projects like this one. The Albanese government has taken some steps in the right direction. It legislated emissions targets, invested in renewables, and began backing household electrification. But it also rebranded Scott Morrison's "gas-led recovery" as the "Future Gas Strategy", a document that flies in the face of advice from the IPCC, the IEA, and our own Office of National Intelligence. While I appreciate the confidential briefing the government gave to community-backed independents on this report, I will continue to push for its public release. Australians deserve to know its contents, especially in the context of their government continuing to approve projects like this one. Australians didn't vote for more gas exports. They voted for climate action, cost-of-living relief, and a future our kids can look forward to. Approving the North West Shelf Extension would deliver the opposite. MORE OPINION: It locks in decades of climate damage, deepens our energy crisis, and pours fuel on the fires of inequality. All so multinational gas giants can make a buck. That's not a strategy, it's a sell-out. It doesn't have to be this way. With its new mandate, the government had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get this right. To reject this project. To fix our tax and environmental laws. To prioritise Australian families and businesses over fossil fuel profits. And to show the leadership this moment demands. Next week, the Cabinet is sitting in Perth. Maybe the PM would consider holding Cabinet in Taree instead so ministers can see first hand what happens to communities when projects like the North West Shelf Extension get approved.
The Age
5 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Gas is no longer a dirty word for Labor. Should it be?
Anthony Albanese's decision to stare down the Greens and back a four-decade extension of one of Australia's worst-polluting industrial plants will be the first of many steps he takes to lock in future supplies of natural gas. It was a controversial call he didn't want to make before the election, and for an obvious reason: the fate of Woodside Energy's North West Shelf project – a series of offshore gas platforms and the Karratha gas-processing facility – had become the new front line in the long-running fight between the gas industry and Australians demanding faster action on global warming. So the government pushed back the deadline to the end of May. Campaigners likened the extension plan to a 'carbon bomb' that would endanger climate commitments and lock in emissions equivalent to a decade of Australia's current annual total – if factoring in emissions caused by burning the gas overseas. But back in power with an even larger majority, Albanese and his newly minted environment minister, Murray Watt, this week gave the provisional green light for the Woodside-led North West Shelf joint venture to keep producing gas for another 45 years, out to 2070. In doing so, they also gave the strongest signal yet that Labor is prepared to support the ongoing need for more gas infrastructure and drilling programs across the country to keep pumping out supplies of what it considers to be a necessary 'transition fuel' on Australia's pathway to a cleaner economy with net zero emissions. Loading 'It's net zero, not zero,' Albanese remarked in the days before the decision. 'You can't have renewables unless you have firming capacity – simple as that.' Make no mistake, the Albanese government is leading Australia through one of the fastest and most ambitious shifts to renewable energy anywhere in the world. Last year, wind turbines, solar panels, hydroelectric dams and big batteries supplied about 40 per cent of our electricity, and the government is trying to double that by 2030, with a target for renewables to meet 82 per cent of the grid by then. But Labor has long been caught in a fight over the future of natural gas – a fossil fuel that burns more cleanly than coal but is still a main source of harmful greenhouse emissions that are overheating the planet.
The Age
5 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Gas is no longer a dirty word for Labor
Anthony Albanese's decision to stare down the Greens and back a four-decade extension of one of Australia's worst-polluting industrial plants will be the first of many steps he takes to lock in future supplies of natural gas. It was a controversial call he didn't want to make before the election, and for an obvious reason: the fate of Woodside Energy's North West Shelf project – a series of offshore gas platforms and the Karratha gas-processing facility – had become the new front line in the long-running fight between the gas industry and Australians demanding faster action on global warming. So the government pushed back the deadline to the end of May. Campaigners likened the extension plan to a 'carbon bomb' that would endanger climate commitments and lock in emissions equivalent to a decade of Australia's current annual total – if factoring in emissions caused by burning the gas overseas. But back in power with an even larger majority, Albanese and his newly minted environment minister, Murray Watt, this week gave the provisional green light for the Woodside-led North West Shelf joint venture to keep producing gas for another 45 years, out to 2070. In doing so, they also gave the strongest signal yet that Labor is prepared to support the ongoing need for more gas infrastructure and drilling programs across the country to keep pumping out supplies of what it considers to be a necessary 'transition fuel' on Australia's pathway to a cleaner economy with net zero emissions. 'It's net zero, not zero,' Albanese remarked in the days before the decision. 'You can't have renewables unless you have firming capacity – simple as that.' Make no mistake, the Albanese government is leading Australia through one of the fastest and most ambitious shifts to renewable energy anywhere in the world. Last year, wind turbines, solar panels, hydroelectric dams and big batteries supplied about 40 per cent of our electricity, and the government is trying to double that by 2030, with a target for renewables to meet 82 per cent of the grid by then. But Labor has long been caught in a fight over the future of natural gas – a fossil fuel that burns more cleanly than coal but is still a main source of harmful greenhouse emissions that are overheating the planet. Loading
