Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Natural gas is a fact. It is a critical part of our energy mix. It is powering manufacturing, providing affordable and reliable electricity for Australians and people across the globe. It is stabilising the energy grid alongside intermittent renewable sources. That is a fact; we need gas. As we transition away from coal, we are going to need gas for many decades to come. That is a fact. Natural gas also supports food security globally, and it plays a pivotal role in producing fertiliser such as ammonia and urea, which sustain Australians, but it also provides food security for millions—in fact billions—of people globally.

The coalition supports natural gas development in Australia to strengthen domestic energy security and also in meeting the global LNG demand, which is going to double by 2040. The fact is, with or without Australian gas, it is going to double. If they don't get it from Australia, which produces the cleanest gas in the world, where else will they go? Woodside is a proudly homegrown Australian company, now for many decades headquartered in Perth. The anti-gas rhetoric from the Greens doesn't reduce global demand for gas, but it does—like with coal and now nickel—send the demand elsewhere to countries that do not produce with the same environmental standards, the same human rights standards, the same sustainability standards and the same anti-slavery standards. The Greens, in advocating this again—and what they do with the EDOs and the other organisations whose funds greenwash around the economy and out of sight of the Electoral Commission—are putting this country at risk.

Some of the facts: the North West Shelf has produced more than 6,300 LNG cargo since 1989, which supports regional energy security. This extension will allow existing gas resources to be developed without the need for constructing new processing facilities. That is not something the Greens will ever admit to you—no more new facilities. In 2023 alone, the North West Shelf contributed $1.7 billion to the Australian economy, including more than $1 billion spent in Western Australian businesses, supporting nearly 1,000 jobs. Since 1984 the North West Shelf has contributed $40 billion in federal royalties and excises, delivering lasting benefits to the Australian and to the Western Australian communities. It is critically important to our nation's security.

The North West Shelf project has also underpinned significant regional development, which has benefitted the Pilbara in particular. A just transition is necessary, and what those opposite propose will never bring a just energy transition. If they don't buy their gas and energy from here, they will go to other nations that have appalling human rights records. Woodside's Browse to North West Shelf Project, if approved, will be subject to the most rigorous regulatory and environmental assessments in the world, and compliance is assured like no other country. I'm proud— (Time expired)