The Federal Opposition’s pledge to fast-track approval of the North West Shelf project demonstrated a casual disregard for proper processes of governmental decision making, Resources Minister Madeleine King told the Energy Club last week.
Addressing an industry lunch, Minister King said “decision making must be taken seriously”.
“I have as Resources Minister had to defend legal challenges to coalition ministers’ decisions on the grounds of apprehended bias,” she said.
“It is in absolutely everyone's interests that this decision is made properly.
“Grandstanding on this matter and making stupid pledges is simply meaningless, and this latest prioritisation of a political splash over due process has shown again, the coalition is unfit to be in government.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has previously rejected similar criticism, telling the Australian Financial Review there was already a national interest test in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, under the provisions of which the NWS expansion will be assessed, but Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek “just chooses not to use it”.
Pressed during a during a question-and-answer session on the NWS approval timeframe, Minister King acknowledged that “we can absolutely agree that six years is too long, but I'm not going to criticise the State process”.
She said Government reforms had been tied up in the Parliament for two terms. Without those changes, the approval process was two step.
“Because we weren't able to change the law…the department in the federal sphere can't look at it … until it was referred from the State Government;
that's where it's at,” she said.
In her address to the Energy Club, Minister King made some of the points raised during her speech
to the EXA Conference.
There she said those who say that the Federal Government is doing too little to bring on new gas often
conveniently ignore the robust investment pipeline for new gas developments in Australia.
She addressed the conference after two days in which speakers and panellists cited regulatory settings and government policies they said stifled investor confidence and appetite to do business in Australia.
A constant topic at the conference was the six-plus-year approval process for Woodside Energy’s NWS extension.
The Business Council of Australia and the Chamber of Minerals and Energy have called on the Federal Government, and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, to approve the extension before a Federal election is called.
Minister King did not refer to the pending decision in her speech but told The West Australian later that
there was no “uncertainty” surrounding the timing of the decision.
“This is a campaign whipped up about when the State Government had this decision for six years,” she said. “Woodside changed their plans in the meantime as well, and that’s fine, but we should be under no illusion that that was six years in the State realm.”
She told The West Australian it was “only reasonable” that Ms Plibersek’s department had time to assess the “extraordinary amount of material” that had come with the NWS submission.
Asked about warnings from Japanese energy giant JERA voiced at the conference that it could look elsewhere
for LNG supply unless regulatory settings improved, Minister King said she had previously assured JERA and the Japanese Government that Australia will remain a reliable supplier of gas.
In her speech, Minister King said Federal Opposition Peter Dutton “has no serious plan for strengthening gas
supply, for investing in the critical minerals processing that is so vital for Western Australia, or for ensuring
Australians have the reliable energy system they need and a secure economic future they deserve”.
She said, “more natural gas will flow to Australian households and businesses because of the actions of the Albanese Government”.
“The future gas strategy we delivered last year outlines our approach to meeting domestic and regional energy needs in the decades ahead to meet our net zero goal of 2050.
“Securing affordable gas for domestic consumers is the bedrock of the strategy
“Of crucial importance was the guiding principle of getting our economy to net zero by 2050 and the role gas can play in that transition, both for Australia and
also our regional neighbours.
“We've reformed the Australian domestic gas security mechanism and introduced the gas market code, which has now secured more than 600 petajoules for the
East Coast market, which is enough gas to power the state of Queensland for two four years.
“The heads of agreement we signed with East Coast gas LNG producers commit them to offering any uncontracted gas to domestic customers ahead of exports,
(and) we’ve strengthened the powers of the market operator to manage short term supply problems.”
Minister King said offshore decommissioning presented “an immense economic opportunity for Australia”.
“Around $60 billion will be spent with the next 30 to 50 years plugging and abandoning oil and gas wells and removing the associated infrastructure,” she said.
“The Australia Government's priority is to see this done safely, locally, and with minimum environmental impacts.
“The Australian Government was forced to take carriage of the Northern Endeavour floating production, storage, and offloading platform in the Timor Sea in late
2021 following the insolvency of the operator.
“Progress is now accelerating on the decommissioning of that FPSO.
“Longer term decommissioning cannot be left to governments.
“My department is leading a process to strengthen our existing financial assurance regime to guarantee that industry decommissioning will always remain the
responsibility of industry.
“Title holders out there who might not be adequately planning for decommissioning expenses should be aware that the government is watching closely.
“It is unacceptable to lead the end-of-life of offshore gas facilities to chance decommissioning.
“Taxpayers will never be left to foot the bill.
“On the back of this, of course, is the opportunity to build a competitive domestic industry that complements our successful gas sector, creating jobs and
benefiting communities where decommissioning occur.”
The March Industry Luncheon was proudly sponsored by Petrofac and Piper Alderman.
You can find the full photo gallery here.