SYDNEY – Thursday 16 May 2024 – Greenpeace Australia Pacific has today welcomed news that the Federal Government must now drop its sneaky means to fast-track approvals for new gas projects, but warned the Government must still rule out further climate-wrecking gas projects, like Woodside’s Burrup Hub.
“After a series of horrifying commitments to new gas from the Government this week, we’re glad to see that some sense has prevailed,” Greenpeace Australia Pacific Head of Climate and Energy Joe Rafalowicz said today.
“Along with our allies in the climate movement, Greenpeace had been extremely concerned to see Resources Minister Madeleine King use sneaky means to fast-track approvals for new gas projects while trying to sidestep environmental protections under the EPBC Act, which she buried in a Bill largely about worker safety.
“Sadly, the fight against toxic, polluting gas isn’t over – in fact, it’s only just begun.
“Madeleine King and the gas lobby don’t just want to ignore the laws that protect our environment – they want a blank cheque to drill for dirty, climate-wrecking gas.
“Just this week we saw Australian and Pacific communities betrayed by the release of the so-called ‘Future Gas Strategy’ – a document that might as well have been written by the fossil fuel lobby, handcuffing our country to decades more climate-wrecking gas amid a climate crisis.
“The gas industry has been pushing the Labor government to weaken Australia’s environmental protections because it has a suite of new projects in the pipeline that pose a major threat to our oceans and climate.
“To secure a safe climate future for Australian and Pacific communities, laying the groundwork for more new gas during a climate crisis is the last thing we need.
“The biggest and most dangerous gas project on the books is Woodside’s Burrup Hub, which would require drilling up to 50 wells around Scott Reef, Australia’s largest oceanic reef system and a vital habitat for pygmy blue whales and green turtles.
“Minister Plibersek is expected to decide whether to give Woodside the green light to drill at Scott Reef this year.
“These are the moments that count – where Labor writes its legacy on environmental protection and climate action into the history books.
“Now more than ever, we need Labor to step up and say no to Woodside’s climate-wrecking, nature-destroying Burrup Hub.”
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