Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

What a load of piffle from the members of the major political parties, arguing that this is backed by science. Come on! I am so relieved that there are no young people sitting up in the public gallery today to hear that sort of rot. They know it's not backed by science and they know bulldust when they hear it.

Thank you to Senator Cox for talking about what a climate bomb of a project this would be—a tourism-wrecking project, a climate-wrecking project, a complete dismissal of First Nation interests. I could talk about the big donations that both of the major parties receive—the last time I checked, the Labor Party were takin more in big donations from the gas corporations than the Liberal Party—or I could talk about them not paying enough tax on the gas that the corporations are exporting, but I want to focus on the environmental impacts of this climate-wrecking proposal.

Fossil fuel giant Woodside is planning to take another wrecking ball to our environment. Woodside wants to drill 50 additional wells at Browse, an area rich in critical biodiversity. Extracting the gas will create a void under the reef, causing it to sink into the ocean with devastating impacts. Sandy Islet, a low-set sandy cay within Scott Reef, provides critical nesting habitat for the Scott-Browse green turtle population. The Browse project is expected to cause subsidence at Sandy Islet. This sinking is likely to hasten any damage from rising sea levels, which will only be made worse by new fossil fuel projects like Browse. There is a very real chance that we will see Sandy Islet disappear beneath the waves in our lifetime, which would be a devastating blow for the ongoing survival of the green turtle population.

Scott Reef provides critical foraging habitat along the migratory route for the blue pygmy whale as the species makes its biannual journey between Indonesia and southern Australia. Whales are especially vulnerable to noise impacts, and Browse would see gas wells be drilled inside the designated foraging habitat and more inlines piled into the sea bed. If Woodside proceeds with carbon dumping in addition to Browse, there will potentially be repeated seismic surveys in this crucial habitat for decades to come.

While these two issues alone should sound alarms for the government, they almost pale into insignificance in comparison to the damage that could be done by a spill of condensate, the oil-like substance mixed in with the gas in the reservoir. The impacts from this type of spill are every bit as bad as those from an oil spill. Woodside's plans show that the area at risk of being impacted by a spill is massive, spreading almost 1,000 kilometres from Scott Reef and even reaching Indonesian waters. Woodside itself has admitted that the impacts from a spill could be catastrophic, with severe and potentially irreversible damage to Scott Reef. Woodside's Browse project is simply too dangerous to proceed.

To quote our resources spokesperson, Senator Dorinda Cox:

The Greens, Traditional Owners and community have shown their commitment and determination to fight these gas wrecking projects.

First Nations people have protected lands and waterways for over 65,000 years. They will not be silenced. Now it's time for the minister to listen. Labor must put the environment before the interests of fossil fuel profits and profiteers. Labor must consider the future of the green turtle and pygmy blue whale populations. It must resist the urge to do a dirty deal with the coalition on our nature laws, and it must reject this environmentally catastrophic project and its unacceptable impacts.