Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I am sorry—the member for Cook's critically condemned and then electorally rejected gas-led recovery. Why is it then that the Labor government has reviewed and removed so many of the member for Windsor's questionable infrastructure commitments but has recommitted more than a billion dollars in funding for expansion of infrastructure that will demand and rely upon gas from the Beetaloo basin?

It has been very difficult to get a straight answer from anyone in the government about what this precinct is for. The government has steadfastly refused to answer simple questions about whether the precinct is intended for gas industry expansion, including petrochemicals manufacturing and gas processing using gas fracked from the basin. However, the CEO of Tamboran Resources, the biggest player in the Beetaloo, has been a bit more direct and a bit more honest. According to him, gas which will be extracted from the Beetaloo basin will be necessary for a full range of industrial purposes at the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct near Darwin. This includes ammonia and urea production for fertiliser, hydrogen production, energy intensive manufacturing, power generation and liquid natural gas for export.

The Australian taxpayers are rightly very worried that the Middle Arm subsidy will be a Trojan horse for significant gas industry expansion in the Northern Territory. We should be doing the opposite. I am calling on the government to rule out gas industry expansion, including petrochemicals manufacturing, at Middle Arm. If we do not do this, we are subsidising new fossil fuel developments in this country.

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