David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

"The climate and health risks from the Middle Arm development which will receive $1.5bn in Commonwealth funding. Noting the project's proponents have confirmed it will be used as a major processing and manufacturing centre for gas fracked out of the Beetaloo Basin rather than the 'Sustainable Development Precinct' the Commonwealth and NT governments have falsely claimed. Also noting that the expansion of the fossil fuel industry is contrary to advice and warnings from the International Energy Agency, IPCC and UN."

In 2022 Australians voted for climate action. They voted against the shameless promotion of fossil fuels in a climate crisis. It is here. We are seeing the effects of climate change. The 2019-20 bushfires will be seared into Australians' memories. We look at what's happening in Canada; this is the new normal. We are entering a climate that is unprecedented and not well suited to support humanity. Yet we have a new government that continues to back the fossil fuel subsidies of the Morrison government.

The most problematic of these decisions is the $1.5 billion for what they are now trying to call the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct. Let's be very clear: Middle Arm is far from sustainable. The driving force behind the whole development is gas extracted from new fields in the Beetaloo—and maybe Barossa, and maybe other offshore projects—and yet the details of why and how this decision was made remain shrouded in secrecy, and some of what has happened is truly bizarre.

I asked the department of infrastructure and Infrastructure Australia if they were aware that the whole site at Middle Arm will likely be underwater by 2100. They had not even considered this risk. So why is this going ahead? How much of this precinct will be driven by gas projects? And what studies have been done to consider the potentially horrific health impacts that will flow from a petrochemical plant so close to Darwin? We just don't know. We don't know how much of this has been looked at.

I've been asking questions about the project in estimates. The Environment and Communications References Committee, chaired by Senator Hanson-Young, has considered the issue as part of an inquiry into oil and gas exploration and production in the Beetaloo basin. In fact, they saw fit to recommend that there be a separate inquiry into the project, and I look forward to the government supporting that inquiry and participating in it.

One thing is clear: that federal funding for Middle Arm so that it can become a gas processing and export hub will be bad for the climate and bad for the health of Darwin residents. The Beetaloo basin, according to the Northern Territory government, has 500 trillion cubic feet of gas. That's the equivalent of 3,177 years of household use in Australia. The scale of these projects that Labor is promoting and using our money to fund is just extraordinary when we know that the International Energy Agency is clear, the IPCC is clear and the UN is urging countries, particularly developed countries like Australia, to stop expanding our fossil fuel industry.

You're going to hear from Labor that we need gas for the transition and this is about jobs and development. You'll hear from the coalition that this is about creating a new industry in the Northern Territory. What good is a new industry in the Northern Territory when Darwin and other parts of the NT will likely be unlivable within the next seven years if we continue down this path? Look at the heat. Look at the humidity. There are a number of peer reviewed papers saying that in large parts of the NT, if we continue down this path of expanding fossil fuels, humans will not be able to live there.

The immediate health impacts on people in Darwin look dire. We have a huge amount of research from the US looking at Cancer Alley, the notorious section of the Mississippi River where petrochemicals have led to the deterioration of so many communities in the area. There are 2,000 papers published on this topic. We know that the processing of gas in the heart of Darwin will cause increased cardiovascular disease, asthma presentations, leukaemias, pregnancy complications, congenital birth defects and stillbirths and generally higher rates of premature deaths. How can we do this as a Senate? How can the government go ahead with a project like this when we know the impacts? We know the impacts on people in Darwin and we know the impacts on the health and wellbeing of all of us and on the future of us and of future generations.