Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] The Scarborough gas development is shaping up to become part of Australia's most polluting fossil fuel industry—the gas industry. If it goes ahead, this megaproject off the north coast of Western Australia will singularly increase national emissions by some 10 per cent. It will produce four times more emissions over its lifetime than Adani. The mere suggestion of its existence is inconsistent with our Paris targets. It irreversibly threatens First Nations cultural heritage sites, including 45,000-year-old World Heritage-nominated Murujuga rock art. It puts marine life at risk. It puts life at risk—full stop!

At a time when the rest of the world is scrambling to reduce emissions and tackle climate change, what is the Morrison government doing? It is working in cahoots with the fossil fuel industry and other fossil fuel giants in the corporate sector, who signed off on this project yesterday, to launch this disastrous endeavour. The science in relation to this project is irrefutable. The mining and burning of coal, oil and gas is fuelling the climate crisis and yet the government continues to find ways to ignore the facts, even as the water rises around its neck and the flames lick at the empty space where its conscience should be. We know what this project is about—it is about the millions of dollars that the government is accepting from the fossil fuel industry.

In October, the International Energy Agency reported that Scarborough could be a dud investment if the world commits to net zero by 2050. Global markets for LNG exports are growing increasingly uncertain as our trading partners switch to cheaper and cleaner sources of energy. So, regardless of whether you look at it from an environmental or an economic standpoint, Scarborough makes absolutely zero sense. What is so frustrating about this is that reaching net zero is absolutely achievable. The earlier that we begin the transition—and it's an inevitable transition—the smoother it will be. We can harness our abundant renewable resources to generate cheap and reliable energy, drive our economy into the future and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. We can take care of fossil fuel workers and their families, supporting them through this transition, and we can do it all without Scarborough ever coming into existence.

Our community here in WA made itself crystal clear: there is no desire for the Scarborough gas project. As I speak today, the community has mobilised outside Woodside's HQ here in Perth to oppose the project in the strongest possible terms. We will not accept new fossil fuel projects in this state. The Greens unequivocally oppose the building of this development and support the community in its total opposition to the Scarborough gas project—and, indeed, to all new coal, oil and gas developments. I thank the chamber for its time.