Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hasluck for the question. I appreciate that she has been a long-term supporter of the oil and gas industry. I am pleased to advise the House that yesterday, along with many members of the House across both major political parties, I attended a function in the House to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the North West Shelf gas project. It is appropriate that the House was well represented. When you think about it, the North West Shelf venture has reached two major milestones this year—the 25th anniversary of domestic gas production and the 20th anniversary of LNG exports to the Asia-Pacific region.

As I said at the launch yesterday of an ACIL Tasman report on the project’s economic contribution to Australia, the project is iconic in Australia’s economic history. It is an economic and engineering feat of the same national significance as the Snowy Mountains hydro scheme. Just think about these facts—and I know they are very much on the minds of the delegation from Papua New Guinea who are here in attendance for question time today. The project adds 0.7 per cent to Australia’s GDP and five per cent to Western Australia’s GSP each year. It spends about $800 million a year on Australian goods and services and generates about $1 billion a year in government revenue for important government services such as roads, railways, schools, hospitals and child care. It is also interesting to note that, over its life, the project has been the biggest resource development in Australia’s history, with construction expenditures of more than $27 billion to date. If we started the project today, it would effectively mean an investment in the order of $50 billion. In terms of exports, more than 2,700 cargoes have been shipped to Asia, mostly Japan, over the last 20 years. Each of these LNG shipments could keep the lights at the MCG continuously on for 20 years.

But what of the project partners? I think it is about time we gave credit where credit is due. Woodside, then a small Australian company, seized on a window of opportunity early in the development of the global LNG industry and put Australia at the heart of the industry’s future. The North West Shelf project has built for Australia a very significant reputation as a reliable and secure LNG supplier and an attractive place in which to grow the industry into the 21st century. Without the success of the North West Shelf project, there would arguably be no Plutos or Gorgons for tomorrow. It is also interesting to note that LNG was a $10.1 billion export industry for Australia in 2008-09 and that, with the potential development of the Pluto and Gorgon projects, exports will grow to approximately $24 billion by 2017-18. Alternatively, if Pluto 2, Pluto 3, Ichthys, Browse, Sunrise, Prelude, Wheatstone and Gladstone LNG projects succeed, by the middle of next decade LNG exports could be in the order of $50 billion per annum.

In addition to the export benefits, the LNG industry is a jobs powerhouse of the nation. I give credit to the North West Shelf joint venture partners: Woodside, BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron, Shell and Japan Australia LNG—better known as MIMI, a partnership between Mitsubishi and Mitsui. Perhaps more importantly, I refer to the comments made by George Kirkland, an executive vice president of Chevron, at the launch of the Gorgon project here in Australia last month. Chevron is the fifth-biggest company in the world, a partner in the North West Shelf project and the operator of the Gorgon project. He said:

There is no doubt that this positions Australia very, very strongly in the gas world. It really and truly does. The good news is Saudi Arabia is all about oil, and what we’re seeing in Australia is all about gas.

The North West Shelf created a major opportunity for Australia in the past and it will create even better opportunities for Australia in the future. In that context, I also welcome the Papua New Guinea delegation to the House because, in discussions last night, accompanied by the ministers for trade and finance, we discussed not only the significance of the LNG industry to Australia but also the potential major economic significance of the industry for Papua New Guinea in the foreseeable future. The LNG industry has the opportunity to create a new foundation for Papua New Guinea in the 21st century, effectively creating jobs and export opportunities and, in doing so, reducing Papua New Guinea’s dependence on Australian aid. I wish Papua New Guinea every success for its project.

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