Latest news with #gasprocessing
News.com.au
4 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Approval of Woodside's North West Shelf gas extension to 2070 slammed by religious leaders
Faith leaders say they are 'deeply troubled' by the Federal Government's decision to approve the extension of the North West Shelf gas processing facility to 2070. On Wednesday, Labor approved a 40-year extension of the country's largest gas plant. While Environment Minister Murray Watt's decision to grant the approval for Woodside's North West Shelf extension in Western Australia's Pilbara has been praised by industry and unions, others have condemned it due to the threat to the Murujuga cultural heritage. President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Rev Charissa Suli told reporters in Perth on Sunday, she is 'profoundly disappointed' about the approval of the North West Shelf gas processing facility. 'As a daughter of the Pacific, I have witnessed first-hand the devastating impacts of climate change on culturally rich but environmentally vulnerable nations in our region,' she said. 'These nations — many of which are home to Uniting Church partners within the Asia-Pacific — contribute the least to global emissions yet suffer the greatest consequences. 'Why then is approval granted to an old, polluting facility to continue emitting vast volumes of climate damaging emissions of a magnitude many times greater than the emissions of all the Pacific nations? This is not loving thy neighbour.' Rev Mitchell Garlett from the Uniting Aboriginal & Islander Christian Congress added he is 'very disappointed' that the decision was made without 'close consultation with the relevant Traditional Owners'. 'The connection we feel to Country is not just a physical thing but a spiritual connection that is deeper than what we see with our eyes,' he said. 'It is heartbreaking that reconciliation is spoken of but our brothers and sisters voices are not being heard, and the land continues to suffer for so-called progress.' Rev Dr Ian Tozer added they are 'deeply concerned' by the threat to First Nations cultural heritage sites, including 60,000-year-old priceless petroglyphs at the World Heritage nominated Murujuga rock art site. 'It is vital that these ancient sites, so precious to Australia's First Peoples and to our history, are not further damaged by industry,' he said. Meanwhile, Woodside has said the approval would support thousands of jobs and supply affordable energy to Western Australia. The project has supplied 6000 petajoules of domestic gas, powering homes and industry in Western Australia with enough energy to power homes in a city the size of Perth for approximately 175 years, the company said.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Heartbreaking': Gas extension decision slammed
Faith leaders say they are 'deeply troubled' by the Federal Government's decision to approve the extension of the North West Shelf gas processing facility to 2070. On Wednesday, Labor approved a 40-year extension of the country's largest gas plant. While Environment Minister Murray Watt's decision to grant the approval for Woodside's North West Shelf extension in Western Australia's Pilbara has been praised by industry and unions, others have condemned it due to the threat to the Murujuga cultural heritage. President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Rev Charissa Suli told reporters in Perth on Sunday, she is 'profoundly disappointed' about the approval of the North West Shelf gas processing facility. 'As a daughter of the Pacific, I have witnessed first-hand the devastating impacts of climate change on culturally rich but environmentally vulnerable nations in our region,' she said. 'These nations — many of which are home to Uniting Church partners within the Asia-Pacific — contribute the least to global emissions yet suffer the greatest consequences. 'Why then is approval granted to an old, polluting facility to continue emitting vast volumes of climate damaging emissions of a magnitude many times greater than the emissions of all the Pacific nations? This is not loving thy neighbour.' Rev Mitchell Garlett from the Uniting Aboriginal & Islander Christian Congress added he is 'very disappointed' that the decision was made without 'close consultation with the relevant Traditional Owners'. 'The connection we feel to Country is not just a physical thing but a spiritual connection that is deeper than what we see with our eyes,' he said. 'It is heartbreaking that reconciliation is spoken of but our brothers and sisters voices are not being heard, and the land continues to suffer for so-called progress.' Rev Dr Ian Tozer added they are 'deeply concerned' by the threat to First Nations cultural heritage sites, including 60,000-year-old priceless petroglyphs at the World Heritage nominated Murujuga rock art site. 'It is vital that these ancient sites, so precious to Australia's First Peoples and to our history, are not further damaged by industry,' he said. Meanwhile, Woodside has said the approval would support thousands of jobs and supply affordable energy to Western Australia. The project has supplied 6000 petajoules of domestic gas, powering homes and industry in Western Australia with enough energy to power homes in a city the size of Perth for approximately 175 years, the company said. Environmental groups estimate the project will produce 4.3 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions over its lifetime.
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Murray Watt knocks back objections to Woodside's North West Shelf extension and clears way for final decision
The environment minister, Murray Watt, has knocked back two last-minute objections to Woodside's North West Shelf extension, clearing the way for a final decision on the controversial development. Greenpeace and the Conservation Council of Western Australia were among groups opposing the expansion who were denied reconsideration related to the project, communicated to them via Watt's department of climate change, energy, the environment and water on Thursday. Officials said the request did not meet the requirements for reconsideration and did not include 'any substantial new information about the impacts' of the project. Watt is set to meet with members of the Labor Environment Action Network, an influential grassroots organisation within the Labor party, on Thursday night, following his visit to Western Australia this week. The deadline on a decision on Woodside's plan to extend its gas processing plant in WA's remote north-west out to 2070 is due by the end of the month, one of the first major political challenges for Watt in his new portfolio. His decision follows a six-year assessment process involving state and federal authorities. A delay in the decision by former minister Tanya Plibersek pushed the final sign off out to after the WA state election in March and the 3 May federal election. During the campaign, then opposition leader, Peter Dutton, vowed a Coalition government would make a ruling on the application within 30 days, under a new 'national interest' test that forces decision-makers to give more weight to a project's social and economic benefits as part of the environmental assessment. The project is fiercely opposed by environment groups, which say it could damage Indigenous rock art and the local environment and lead to billions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Watt last week told Guardian Australia last week it was 'certainly his intention' to make a ruling before the deadline, rather than seek another extension. Greenpeace Australia Pacific WA campaign lead Geoff Bice said the knock back on their request for reconsideration was deeply disappointing. 'The primary purpose of Woodside's North West Shelf extension is to process gas from the Browse gas field underneath Scott Reef,' he said. 'The minister should be looking at these gas mega projects as a whole, rather than broken into arbitrary pieces. 'The North West Shelf facility is one of Australia's dirtiest and most polluting fossil fuel projects. The decision to refuse Greenpeace's reconsideration request brings Woodside one step closer towards drilling for dirty gas at Scott Reef.' The WA Environment Protection Authority last year described the proposal to open the Browse basin for development as 'unacceptable' due to its impact on marine life at Scott Reef. The reef is home to more than 1,500 species, many unique to the area. The Conservation Council of WA's executive director, Matt Roberts, said it was 'particularly disappointing' the reconsideration request had been dismissed one day after Watt was in Perth this week to speak with mining industry representatives and other stakeholders. Roberts said Watt had declined to meet with the council or Greenpeace while in WA on the grounds it would be inappropriate while the reconsideration request was still under review. 'The dismissal of this reconsideration gives us grave concern that it paves the way for Minister Watt to make a decision on the North West Shelf extension despite the fact that he is just 10 days into his new job and this project will have long lasting negative impacts for generations to come,' Roberts said. 'Disappointingly, as far as I am aware, Minister Watt did not even meet with any of the concerned Traditional Owners on this trip.' Greens leader Larissa Waters accused Labor of secretly preparing to approve the project. 'This was the new Labor government's first big climate test, and Anthony Albanese is lining up to fail it spectacularly – approving Woodside's carbon bomb even faster than Dutton planned to,' she said. 'Australia's environment laws are broken, but a rapid-speed approval by Minister Watt indicates he has no intention of fixing them. The coal and gas industry must be rubbing their hands together.' The department told Guardian Australia in a statement it considered the requests under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. 'These requests were found to be invalid, meaning that the applications did not meet the requirements of the EPBC Act and EPBC regulations for a reconsideration request.'
