Sharryn Jackson (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on the Commonwealth response to the recent gas explosion in Western Australia?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 3 June 2008 a major gas line on the sea-beach interface at the Apache Energy natural gas facility in WA ruptured resulting in a significant fire and shutdown of the plant. There were 166 people employed on the island of which 152 were evacuated to Perth following the rupture; 14 engineering personnel remained to undertake an on-site assessment. Although it is a great relief that no personnel were injured and all were evacuated safely, the shutdown has had a major impact on the supply of natural gas to Western Australian consumers.

The facility supplies around 30 per cent of all the natural gas in WA. The National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority, NOPSA, is working closely with the WA government and Apache Energy to investigate the safety aspects of this instance and determine how quickly the facilities can be returned to service. However, it does appear that the facility will be out of action for some weeks and possibly some months. The government intends to work closely with the WA government to do what can be done in minimising the impact on consumers, businesses and the economy in general.

The government welcomes the response of the major commercial energy users in WA to the disruption of gas supplies with major users reducing their consumption and doing all they can to use alternative fuels where possible. The government strongly encourages larger commercial users in particular to continue to do everything possible to minimise their gas consumption so as to minimise the impact on retail consumers.

The government supports the announcement by the Premier of Western Australia, Alan Carpenter, of the establishment of a gas supply disruption recovery committee that will coordinate an overall response to the social and economic impacts which flow from this particular rupture. These include industry concerns over gas shortages causing possible shutdowns and business closures, the potential for job losses, and the flow-on effect to the business sector as well as to the broader community, the effect on essential services including hospitals and food supplies, insurance impacts and the overall impact on growth and the mining industry.

The committee will include the direct involvement of a number of Commonwealth government agencies including Centrelink and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. As the Deputy Prime Minister and the Acting Prime Minister announced last week, the government also immediately made available Job Search support through Centrelink for those who may be directly affected as a result of the rupture. The government will make further assistance available if the need arises. The Minister for Resources and Energy travelled to Perth on Saturday to meet with the WA Premier to be briefed on the impact of this major disruption of WA’s gas supplies. The government will remain in close contact with the government of Western Australia to examine further any other areas where the Australian government can support WA during what is a very difficult time not just for their economy but for industry across the board and for consumers.