CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Ms WATSON-BROWN (Ryan) (16:05): Twelve new coal power plants for 50 years—that was, in essence, Labor's first act of this term. Within 25 days of being re-elected, Labor gave approval for multinational corporation Woodside's gigantic North West Shelf gas project to continue to operate until 2070. That's the equivalent of 12 new coal power plants running for 50 years—the biggest new fossil fuel project in the Southern Hemisphere.
They approved it faster than Peter Dutton committed to it; let that sink in. In a single act, the Labor government has completely invalidated every other climate policy they have and killed the prospect of Australia reaching net zero by 2050. Once again I find myself utterly gobsmacked by this government's brazen support of the interests of gas corporations over our common interest.
The year 2024 was the hottest on record. The prices of coffee, olive oil, chocolates, fresh fruit and vegetables are going up because of heatwaves, floods and droughts. Dolphins are washing up dead on the shores of South Australia because of a prolonged marine heatwave causing a devastating algal bloom.
Yet here we are. In the midst of a drastic climate crisis, instead of ending new fossil fuel projects, the Labor government has shown they care more about supporting big corporations than they do about life on this planet and future generations. If you ask any ordinary person on the street whether they think we should give $215 billion of our resources away for free to a massive gas corporation—give it to them—the answer, I can guarantee you, would be a resounding no.
But that's what just happened. The Labor government has just approved the extension of Woodside's enormous North West Shelf project, and, because of how our tax and royalty arrangements are for gas in this country, it represents the largest-ever giveaway of Australia's natural resources. How does this happen?
In reality, it's hard to know where the political class, Labor and Liberal, in this country ends and the coal and gas industry begins. Ben Wyatt, a former Labor treasurer in WA, is now on the board of directors for Woodside. Current Labor senator for Queensland Anthony Chisholm is an ex political strategist for Santos.
Former WA premier Mark McGowan now works for BHP, Mineral Resources and Frontier Energy. Former federal resources minister Martin Ferguson became head of the chief Australian lobby group for gas corporation APIA. When it comes to the mining industry, the people who make the laws are the same people who profit from them.
They meet on one side of the table one year and on the other side of the table the next. This has to stop.