QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator WHISH-WILSON (Tasmania) (14:17): It is. Everyone's been so friendly, President; I thought I might stay! My question is to the Minister for the Environment and Water, Murray Watt.

Woodside's gas project around Scott Reef, off the coast of Western Australia, is a massive carbon bomb that will release 1.6 billion tonnes of climate pollution. Scott Reef is a marine biodiversity hotspot with numerous endangered species. The Western Australian EPA has previously recommended against this project proceeding on this basis.

In your approval decision, you are currently considering new attribution science that ties this project's carbon emissions directly to significant coral deaths on our iconic Great Barrier Reef. Minister, can you confirm today that you received more than 70,000 submissions opposing this project in just a few weeks? What have you got to say to these Australians who care about protecting our oceans and marine life from the greed of fossil fuel companies like Woodside?