Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

At the request of Senator McKim, I move:

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

That the Western Australian Government is about to approve Woodside's North West Shelf extension to burn toxic gas until 2070 and Minister Plibersek has to use her power to block it.

This is a matter of urgency because Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are about to get a whole lot worse. We know that the fugitive emissions and the burn-off gas from gas production constitute a significant portion of our domestic emissions. That's before you consider the damage that our gas does once it reaches our overseas markets. This matter of urgency today is in regard to the Western Australian government, who is about to approve Woodside's North West Shelf extension in my home state of Western Australia to burn toxic gas until 2070. That's right, folks—2070. Minister Plibersek needs to use her power to block this extension on the North West Shelf.

The Western Australian government are making steps and making promises to the gas industry in Western Australia when we are in a serious fight on climate change. This government consistently claim that they are here to prevent it from escalating, yet we see no climate target for 2035. We see them just standing aside quietly as they're about to let off this climate bomb in my home state of Western Australia. The planet's atmosphere absolutely can't afford any more of this foolish behaviour. The minister for the environment has this power. The Western Australian gas cartel control the government in Western Australia. It is unable to respond to the climate emergency because they won't deal with these issues. They have shown us time and time again in Western Australia that they don't care about the damage to Aboriginal cultural heritage. They don't even care about the climate crisis, because they too have not legislated a climate target.

Currently the Murujuga National Park, which is World Heritage listed or nominated for World Heritage listing, is home to some of Australia's oldest rock art. When we talk about Australia's oldest rock art, we mean the world's oldest rock art. We are custodians of that world history, and the gases that are changing our climate are also destroying the human history that is recorded there. An extension of the North West Shelf project means that these damaging gases will continue to be released at the Burrup Peninsula until 2070. Let me say that again: baking in gas, not as a transition fuel, until 2070. They continue to not just destroy the climate but also destroy our cultural heritage simultaneously. The link between the gas emissions from the Woodside plant also damage those Murujuga rock art sites, and that is well established. In fact, in August of this year, the Friends of Australian Rock Art and other signatories wrote to Premier Roger Cook in Western Australia and the environment minister, Reece Whitby, and the Aboriginal affairs minister, Tony Buti, to raise concerns about the risk to cultural heritage that would result in extension of the North West Shelf gas project run by Woodside, and it fell on deaf ears.

Aside from the disrespect of cultural heritage, this extension project will have a timeline of 2070—an extension of the ecocide that's going to happen at that location. The planet will be cooked. It will be cooked. In the north-west of Western Australia, it will be unlivable by 2040 if we keep on this trajectory of not paying attention to the climate emissions. This is not about energy transition. All of this is happening while Woodside continue to gaslight us to believe that they are delivering gas into the domestic market. What a crock! I urge my constituents in Western Australia to read the fine print. This is not happening, and we are paying higher energy costs in Western Australia than ever before.

With a 2035 target unlikely to be announced by this government before we go to next year's election, we are faced with a failure by the Cook Labor government to speak up for climate and heritage. It's time someone took a stand, and it's up to the minister for the environment to do that. It's up for the minister for the environment to place environmental and cultural protections in place that are required for the North West Shelf. What an amazing, beautiful, sacred, important part of the country, and it's in my home state. The Greens will continue to urge the Minister for the Environment and Water to stand up and block this project.