Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Petroleum Exploration Permit 11, known as PEP 11, covers 4,575 square kilometres of ocean, from Newcastle through the Central Coast to Manly. The area adjacent to PEP 11 is home to millions of people. It is a whale migration path and an area of significant biodiversity. The local economy, as well as the community's wellbeing, is intertwined with the health of this area and of the ocean. PEP 11 is the culmination of the coalition's gas folly. Advent Energy Ltd and Bounty Oil and Gas NL, the titleholders of PEP 11, are seeking a renewal and extension of PEP 11 to allow for exploratory oil and gas off our coast. Offshore oil and gas exploration and production through PEP 11 could have dire consequences for our ecosystems, tourism businesses, coastal communities and climate. It must be stopped. Communities have been patient. I presented a petition in February 2020, with over 60,000 names, calling for PEP11 to be cancelled. We have had paddle-outs. We have written letters. We have had platitudes from coalition MPs along the coast, even from the Prime Minister, and assurances that it won't happen. Yet the permit is still here. Advent Energy are still proceeding with their plans, and Minister Pitt, a Nationals MP from Queensland, is declining to cancel the licence.

Oil and gas and fossil fuels contribute to man-made climate change. Climate change has already devastated communities on the east coast, with drought and bushfires. Gas is not a transitional fuel or cleaner; gas is as polluting as coal when lifecycle emissions are taken into consideration. Methane from oil and gas extraction, flaring and transport is driving emission growth in Australia. Emissions from export LNG have grown from 13 million tonnes per annum in 2014 to almost 60 million tonnes today. That is equivalent to four Hazelwood power stations, formerly the most polluting power station in the developed world.

The International Energy Agency, one of the most conservative energy institutions in the world, has stated, 'No further oil and gas developments can proceed if we are to reach net zero by 2050.' The International Energy Agency has put Australia on notice. PEP11 cannot go ahead. To be clear: we do not need more gas. Gas will not lower prices. We have tripled supply and yet gas prices have increased by 130 per cent. Gas is not a transition fuel. Batteries now outperform gas peakers on cost by as much as 30 per cent. We do not need more gas supply for the domestic market, as 70 per cent of supply goes offshore anyway. There will not be a market for gas in 30 years, as most of our major trading partners have net zero targets by 2050 or 2060. Japan, for example, the biggest importer of liquefied natural gas in the world and Australia's major customer, will halve their LNG imports by 2030.

Oil and gas exploration risks pollution of our oceans. Our ocean is fragile and is already under threat from climate change and plastics pollution. We cannot risk an oil spill from a drilling rig wrecking our ocean in areas that are some of the most unique in the world. Just recently, in October, 100,000 litres of crude oil spilled in the Pacific Ocean when an oil pipeline broke six kilometres off California. The spill created a 21-kilometre-wide slick off Huntington Beach. Last week crews began cleaning at least 3,000 barrels of oil washed onto shore. There is now a state of emergency in Orange County. That is the second spill in six years—the last hit Santa Barbara in 2015. Do we really want to risk this happening off the east coast between Newcastle and Manly and off Palm Beach? It is ridiculous. So much can go wrong. Make no mistake, undertaking oil and gas exploration risks disaster for our pristine coast.

The community in the vicinity of PEP11 strongly and adamantly opposes any exploring or drilling for oil and gas. It's not just us. The New South Wales state government has also opposed this project. Former Deputy Premier John Barilaro recommended the project should not proceed. Despite all this PEP11 remains active, pending a decision of federal water and resources minister, the member for Hinkler.

The delay on this decision is causing significant concern and distress to the community. The project proponents are gearing up to drill. They've put out tenders for equipment and other services. So that's why today I am introducing the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Stopping PEP11) Bill 2021 to parliament. The bill will ensure that PEP11 does not proceed. It also ensures that no further applications for any reason can be granted by the joint authority or titles administrator in this current PEP11 block, as well as the area covered by the original PEP11. PEP11 itself will cease to be enforced two months after this bill receives royal assent if people in this place actually stand up for their convictions. The bill is for the millions of people living near PEP11. It's for their wellbeing and economic prosperity. PEP11 must be cancelled. I commend the bill to the House and cede the remainder of my time to the member for Mayo.

Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is my pleasure to second the motion. I commend the member for Warringah on this bill. It reminds me of my first term in parliament, when we spent much of that time fighting big oil in the Great Australian Bight. Our community in Mayo, in fact many of the communities across the coastal areas of South Australia, were deeply concerned about that. What we knew was that it was in an area of incredibly high risk and remoteness. Drilling at a depth of 2½ kilometres in pristine wilderness—at what point are we going to say no? At what point do we put the environment and people ahead of big oil?

I am going to use my last couple of minutes to share that story. I hope it provides some relief to the people who are fighting PEP11. It can be done.

Initially BP and Chevron wanted to drill in the Great Australian Bight. There was huge community pressure. Our community did not let up. We had paddle-outs and constant hands across the sand. Environmental charities came together, whether they were the Wilderness Society or Greenpeace. We had people from all political persuasions—Senator Hanson-Young, a senator in the other place, and Leon Bignell, the state member for Mawson in South Australia. He's a Labor member of parliament. Despite the Labor Party in South Australia and here not coming out on it, Leon stuck to his guns and fought hard. Leon actually went to Norway to petition the Norwegian government. I wrote to every member of the Norwegian government, because, once we got rid of BP, Equinor came in.

The problem is that the exploration licences continue to sit there. That's where the great risk is. That is what Zali's bill is fighting for. We actually need to cancel these licences. It was a good day in February 2020 when, after huge public pressure, Equinor decided to step out of oil exploration drilling in the bight. But those licences should never have been there, just like they shouldn't be there for off the coast of New South Wales, which is a pristine part of our coastline. We market Australia as the great beach and a huge island, yet we're prepared to risk that just for big oil.

What do we need to happen in the Great Australian Bight? We still need World Heritage protection. We have a remote area of enormous marine biodiversity. Like PEP11, it's an area where whales come to calve. I commend this bill to the House. Good on you, Member for Warringah. We need more conviction in this place and fewer donations.

Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I give a friendly reminder to the member for Mayo to refer to members by their proper title during debate. The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next day of sitting.