Australia must expedite gas approvals and push back against activists, says Meg O’Neill

Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill says it will be a major government policy failure if Australia cannot deliver cheap and reliable energy.

Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill says it will be a major government policy failure if Australia cannot deliver cheap and reliable energy, while attacking environment activists for prioritising political agendas over the national interest.

The comments mark a major intervention by the nation’s biggest energy company just months before voters head to the polls, putting both sides of federal politics on notice over the urgent policy demands from big business.

“No matter how our economy evolves, we will succeed or fail on the strength of our energy system,” Ms O’Neill will say in a speech on Thursday.

“Just like today, Australian companies of the future will need reliable, affordable energy to be the best in the world at what they do. In a country as lucky and resource rich as Australia, it would be a major policy failure if we are not able to achieve this.”

The election of US President Donald Trump, who has promised to fast-track fossil fuel production and slash energy prices, also presented a fresh threat for Australian producers.

“Amid rising global protectionism and greater competition for capital, Australia must sharpen its competitive edge even further,” Ms O’Neill will tell the Melbourne Mining Club in a keynote address. “And moves by the new administration in the US to deregulate the economy and spur new energy investments make the challenge for countries like Australia even more acute.”

Echoing some of the rationale of Mr Trump, Ms O’Neill will say cheaper energy prices are critical to unlocking prosperity.

“Historically, cheap and reliable gas has been one of Australian industry’s great competitive advantages. Affordable energy keeps operating costs down, which means companies have more capital to invest in things that increase productivity,” Ms O’Neill will say.

Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O'Neill. Picture: Bloomberg

“We must keep it this way – to safeguard the businesses we have now, and hopefully to attract businesses in new industries of the ­future.”

The home of the Woodside CEO, who has historically shunned the limelight, was targeted by four anti-gas activists in 2023, while Disrupt Burrup Hub has been behind a string of controversial actions in Western Australia aimed at hobbling gas expansions.

Ms O’Neill said action was needed “to challenge activist organisations practising lawfare, which prioritises the political agendas of a few over the national interest”.

Woodside in December secured a green light from the WA environment department for its North West Shelf Project extension, securing the future of the company’s LNG processing facility and moving the controversial $30bn Browse development one step closer. The decision, which has taken six years, is a major boost to the company, but it must now go to federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek for an all-clear.

Ms O’Neill will applaud the state approval in her speech, but insist the six-year consideration of the WA government illustrated a malaise around gas that must be changed.

“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,” Ms O’Neill will say.

“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 [is] proudly homegrown. Australian companies, like Woodside, can continue to invest in for the long term.”

The decision of Ms Plibersek shapes as a litmus test of the federal Labor government’s commitment to gas.

Most expect Ms Plibersek to rubber-stamp it, and that would safeguard the future of Woodside’s Karratha LNG facility. But it would by no means cement the $30bn Browse LNG project, also backed by BP, Mitsui, Mitsubishi and PetroChina.

The same WA environment department earlier this year indicated it opposed the Browse development, which it said posed an “unacceptable risk”.

Woodside is keen to develop Browse as it moves to rapidly bolster production to capitalise on global demand – most notably from Asia. The expansion plans have placed Woodside in the crosshairs of environmentalists, who in recent months have used the courts to challenge approvals for projects.

Santos was badly damaged in 2022 when it was forced to spend about a year undertaking a new environment plan for its $5.7bn Barossa LNG development after a Tiwi Islander successfully argued that he was not sufficiently consulted.

Ms O’Neill will say bolstering gas supplies will be critical in not only allowing allies to decarbonise, but it will foster economic growth in Australia. But to achieve this, Ms O’Neill will say governments must act.

“To achieve decarbonisation and economic growth – which ultimately secures our future prosperity – we need further action at all levels of government: action on reducing red and green tape that slows down development of new job-creating projects that would add new, needed energy supplies,” she will say.

The federal government angered the gas industry in 2024 when it delayed proposed legislation to tighten the capacity of environmentalists to use the same method that affected ­Santos.

However, Santos may have subsequently altered the legal landscape. Santos in 2024 defended a claim that a pipeline for its Barossa LNG project would cause irreparable cultural harm, and secured more than $9m in costs from the Environmental Defenders Office. The forceful defence and pursuit of costs appears to have left would-be legal opponents to future gas developments wary.

Woodside shares closed 1.77 per cent, or 43c, higher at $24.78 on Wednesday.

Originally published as Australia must expedite gas approvals and push back against activists, says Meg O’Neill