Labor’s approval of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas extension to 2070 divides opinion

Two nations are furious with Australia after the first major decision from the Albanese government.

Two Pacific island nations have fired up at Australia over one of the first major calls of the newly-elected Albanese government.

On Wednesday, Labor approved a 40-year extension of Australia’s largest gas plant. Newly appointed Environment Minister Murray Watt’s decision on Wednesday to grant approval for Woodside’s North West Shelf extension in Western Australia’s Pilbara has drawn praise from industry and unions and condemnation from conservationists and First Nations groups.

Mr Watt announced the long-awaited call on the North West Shelf gas processing plant in Karratha, twice delayed by former Minister Tanya Plibersek in Labor’s first term, allowing Woodside to extend production and supply the domestic market by another 40 years until 2070.

Tuvalu, a nation in the Pacific with a population of just shy of 10,000, has warned against approving the project — saying its survival is at stake.

Its Climate Minister Maina Talia said the North West Shelf extension “would lock in emissions until 2070, threatening our survival” and undermine Australia’s chances at hosting the next global climate conference in 2026 in partnership with Pacific nations.

Meanwhile Vanuatu’s climate minister said he is devastated by the Australian government’s decision.

Vanuatu’s Minister for Climate Change Ralph Regenvanu said that the extension of the project is “a slap in the face for Pacific Island countries who have repeatedly called on Australia to stop approving new fossil fuel projects”.

He continued to say that the approval “severely undermines our national security and sabotages our future. The single greatest thing the Australian Labor government could do to protect our region is to stop opening new coal and gas projects”.

Tuvalu’s Climate Minister Maina Talia.

Its current approval was set to expire in 2030.

“Following the consideration of rigorous scientific and other advice including submissions from a wide cross-section of the community, I have today made a proposed decision to approve this development, subject to strict conditions, particularly relating to the impact of air emissions levels from the operation of an expanded onshore Karratha gas plant,” Mr Watt said in a statement.

Woodside’s Karratha gas plant. Picture: Save Our Songlines

Mr Watt said in making his proposed decision, he had considered “the potential impacts of extending the life of the plant on the national heritage values of nearby ancient rock art” and “economic and social matters concerning the proposed development”.

“Based on the evidence before me and the Department’s recommendations, my proposed decision is subject to strict conditions,” he said.

Mr Watt said the impact of air emissions on the Murujuga rock art that forms part of the Dampier Archipelago was considered as part of the process.

“I have ensured that adequate protection for the rock art is central to my proposed decision,” he said.

Woodside has 10 business days to make additional comment before a final decision is made.

“While this process is ongoing, I will not be making further comment,” Mr Watt said.

The opposition welcomed the announcement, while Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the Albanese government had “failed again”.

“It seems they have learnt nothing from the last parliament where they continue to approve new coal and gas mines, only to now approve a pollution bomb that is worse than all of the others put together,” she told ABC.

Woodside said the proposed approval would support thousands of jobs and supply “reliable and affordable energy to Western Australia”.

The North West Shelf Project has supplied more than 6000 petajoules of domestic gas, powering homes and industry in Western Australia, the company said — enough energy to power homes in a city the size of Perth for approximately 175 years.

Environmental groups estimate the project will result in 4.3 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions over its lifetime.

“Since starting operations in 1984, the North West Shelf Project has paid over $40 billion in royalties and taxes and supported regional development opportunities in the Pilbara,” Woodside executive vice president and chief operating officer Australia Liz Westcott said in a statement.

Environment Minister Murray Watt. Picture: Martin Ollman/NCA NewsWire

Woodside, the country’s largest oil and gas producer, added it remained committed to protecting the Murujuga sites and supported its World Heritage nomination.

The North West Shelf decision came on the same day UNESCO knocked back Australia’s bid to have the rock art, believed to be up to 50,000 years old, added to the World Heritage List.

The state government environmental approval, granted in 2024, includes a commitment from Woodside for a “significant reduction in air emissions and measures to manage greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce them over time”, and to comply with air quality objectives and standards arising from the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program.

Business groups and unions also supported the call.

“The reality is that we do need more gas, and we need it for a variety of reasons,” Business Council chief executive Bran Black told ABC Radio on Thursday.

“Of course, we need it for the purposes of our own energy transition, it’s a critical transitional fuel source, but we also need it to support our friends and our allies overseas that have needs of their own in the course of their own energy transition. So that is an important thing, and this project very much contributes to that.”

Mr Black added that the process had highlighted the need to speed up environmental approvals at the federal level for major projects.

“That’s not to say that we want to try and cut corners, indeed, we think it’s critical that these types of processes appropriately balance up environmental, social and economic considerations, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to be able to deliver greater certainty,” he said.

He stressed that the Business Council remained committed to net zero by 2050.

“All of this comes back to a balancing exercise,” Mr Black said.

“We have to deliver net zero, we know that we need to move towards that objective, but at the same time, we’ve got to account for the fact that our power needs, not just in Australia but around the world, are increasing, and we need to make sure that power can continue to be delivered affordably and reliably throughout that process.”

Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Paul Farrow said the announcement “correctly prioritises and secures the future of well paid union jobs in WA and secures supply of a crucial transition fuel we need as more renewable energy sources like wind and solar come online”.

Rock art pictured at Murujuga. Picture: Save Our Songlines

“Today’s decision to maintain a stable, operational project employing well over a thousand hydrocarbons workers in well-paid jobs is a victory for common sense and allows our members to continue their important work for years to come,” he said on Wednesday.

“Although most of the gas produced by the NWS Project is sent overseas, the project also provides a significant amount of gas domestically. Western Australians, from Broome to Bunbury, can now continue to rely upon this essential fuel into the future.”

The decision is likely to be challenged.

“See you in court,” Raelene Cooper, a Mardathoonera woman and former Chair of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, said in a statement.

“I’m not on my own, I’m bringing warriors from this ngurra with me.”

Greenpeace said it was a “terrible decision”.

Mr Watt last week formally rejected concerns raised by environmental groups, including Greenpeace, about the North West Shelf extension, clearing the way for final approval.

Environmental groups have raised concerns about the potential impact on Scott Reef, which is home to threatened species such as pygmy blue whales and green sea turtles.

“The North West Shelf facility is one of Australia’s dirtiest and most polluting fossil fuel projects,” Greenpeace Australia Pacific chief executive David Ritter said.

“This approval brings Woodside’s toxic gas plans closer to Scott Reef, holds back the clean energy transition underway in WA, and fuels growing climate damage in Australia and around the world.”

The Climate Council said the project marked the Albanese government’s 27th coal, oil or gas approval since taking office.

“Peter Dutton promised to approve this project before the last election. Voters rejected Dutton,” Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said.

“Why would the Albanese Government take Dutton’s lead on climate policy? Approving the North West Shelf extension leaves a polluting stain on Labor’s climate legacy. Australians voted for a renewable-powered future, not more climate pollution and destruction.”

Environmental groups slammed the decision. Picture: Save Our Songlines

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) also called it a “bitterly disappointing decision that locks in decades more climate pollution and will drive demand to open new gas fields”.

“That the gas is destined for export makes no difference to its climate impact,” ACF chief executive Kelly O’Shanassy said.

“It will be felt by Australians through more intense and frequent extreme weather events like bushfires, heatwaves, floods and coral deaths. Woodside is seeking this extension so it can drill gas from the proposed Browse gas field at Scott Reef, further fuelling global heating.”

Ms O’Shanassy also claimed the ancient petroglyphs at Murujuga “may not be visible in 2070 if acid emissions from Woodside’s Burrup gas hub keep deteriorating the rocks’ surface”.

Murujuga traditional owner and ACF First Nations lead Josie Alec said what was happening to the rock art at Murujuga “is like Juukan Gorge in slow motion”, referring to the ancient rock shelter cave destroyed by mining company Rio Tinto in 2020.

“The UNESCO World Heritage nomination of the rock art will be a farce if 40 more years of acid pollution is allowed to damage the petroglyphs at Murujuga,” Ms Alec said.

“As the First Nations Lead at ACF I am appalled of the lack of community consultation before making this decision. Environment Minister Watt should do everything in his power to protect the rock art, not protect the gas industry.”

The Bob Brown Foundation branded the decision an act of “climate bastardry”.

“The Prime Minister’s spin [of] ‘accelerating global heating with another 40 years of gas as necessary for ‘firming’ in the energy transition’, makes him no better than every other climate denier and fossil fuel appeaser,” patron Christine Milne said.

“Forget ‘friend of Pacific’, forget Minister Bowen standing in front of wind farms or electric vehicles, it is all just duplicitous greenwashing as this gas carbon bomb is detonated.”

The Australia Institute said the Albanese government had “opted, once again, to put big gas ahead of Australians”.

“Voters who put their faith in Labor to do the right thing for the climate must be feeling bitterly disappointed today,” Australia Institute research director Rod Campbell said on Wednesday.

“This expansion will do vast damage and deliver almost no benefit to Australia or Australians. For a government re-elected to take meaningful action on climate change, expanding the nation’s biggest fossil fuel project for another 50 years is a dreadful way to kick off its second term.”

Originally published as Labor’s approval of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas extension to 2070 divides opinion