Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

They're high-paying jobs as well, working on the North West Shelf. What does Mr Albanese do? Again, he walks away from those jobs in WA.

There is no logical reason that a decision on this project could not have been made last year. There is no logical reason that a decision on this project could not have been made in the first few months of this year. But I tell you, there is logic in putting one and one together and getting two as to why, on budget day of all days, when people are distracted by other things, Mr Albanese and Ms Plibersek quietly, without any announcement to the people of Western Australia, pushed the date for consideration of this project back even further until after the next federal election.

I don't know what more is needed for Western Australians to come to the understanding that Mr Albanese and his Labor government have well and truly walked away from WA. As I said, the Labor senators in this place will be given a chance later this evening to stand with the WA federal Liberal senators in standing up for Western Australia and showing their support for gas in our state. Senator Duniam is going to be moving an amendment—it is encapsulated in his second reading amendment and will also be moved in Committee of the Whole—that states the bill's changes to the reconsiderations regime should be substantially strengthened to ensure that all assessments of all projects across all industries do not remain subject to the open-ended review processes that currently exist. In other words, let's make sure that the minister, going forward, cannot in any way revoke a decision that has been made—in particular, in relation to the North West Shelf.

I foreshadow that I will also be moving a second reading amendment, to note that the Albanese Labor government has put thousands of Western Australian jobs at risk by delaying the decision on the proposed extension of the Woodside North West Shelf gas project. Key stakeholders, including the Premier of Western Australia, have put on record that Mr Albanese's actions will have a chilling effect on potential investment decisions. This is yet another example of how the Albanese Labor government has walked away from WA and doesn't have the back of Western Australians.