Australia’s energy policy debate must be based on science and facts and not wishful thinking, says Woodside Energy Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Meg O’Neill.

Addressing the Melbourne Mining Club earlier this month, Ms O’Neill said too much of the recent
debate about energy policy had focused on taking solutions off the table.

In a wide-ranging speech, Ms O’Neill lamented Australia’s regulatory burden and the length of time
to gain approvals and said there was more impact from replacing coal in Asia with Australian LNG
than from asking Australian consumers to switch their household appliances from gas to electric.

She said it was estimated that if just 20 per cent of Asia’s coal-fired power stations switched to gas,
it would reduce carbon emissions by 680 million tonnes a year.

That was more than one and a half times Australia’s total annual net greenhouse gas emissions,
which in the year to December 2023 was 433 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

She said there was no single solution to the complex challenge of growing the economy while
also tackling climate change.

“It requires all ideas to be on the table,” Ms O’Neill said. “We should not rule out any source of
energy or technology.

“Again, we must be guided by science and facts. On this front, I am encouraged by the green shoots
(no pun intended) in Australia’s national energy conversation – including signs of an increasingly
fact-based discussion on the role of gas.

“The fact is that gas is an ideal source of always-available power to support Australia’s expanding renewable energy grid.”

Ms O’Neill said action was needed to reduce red and green tape that slows the development of new job-creating projects that would add new, needed energy supplies,
and to challenge activist organisations practising lawfare, which prioritised the political agendas of a few over the national interest.

Two weeks after the speech, Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek announced the Government needed more time to assess the extension of Woodside’s
North West Shelf Project.

The decision was pushed out from February 28 to March 31.

State approval for the extension was granted in December, after six years of deliberations.

In her speech, Ms O’Neill said: “It’s a fact that we can get projects assessed and approved overseas in less time than it takes here in Australia.

“Take our North West Shelf Project Extension proposal. Since 1984, the North West Shelf Project has powered homes and industry in WA.

“It has paid more than $40 billion in royalties and excise, and it has provided tens of thousands of secure, well-paying jobs, both direct and indirect.

“Extending the life of this existing infrastructure would enable these benefits to continue for decades to come.

“In December, we received approval from the WA Government to do this. But this came after six years of assessment and appeals within WA’s environmental approvals
system, despite bipartisan support for the proposal.

“We now eagerly await a Federal decision, as does our workforce and their families in Karratha.

“We understand the need for robust environmental assessment, but when an approval to continue to use existing infrastructure takes more than six years, it’s in nobody’s interests.

“It does not give Australia a competitive edge, or better environmental outcomes. We need action to reverse this trend and make sure Australia is a place that proudly homegrown Australian companies, like Woodside, can continue to invest in for the long term.

“And we need action to bring on new gas supplies, so that Australia does not risk increasing power bills, energy shortfalls and an uncertain energy transition.”

Return to eNews